The strong shopkeeper managed to fend off the knife-wielding robber (Picture: SWNS)

This strong shopkeeper is not someone who you should mess with after he fended off a knife-wielding robber with just a cardboard box.

Soran Sharifi, 45, was working behind the counter at his shop Links News in Malvern, Worecstershire, on August 26, when suddenly the masked armed thug burst in.

He demanded cash and pressed a knife against Soran’s chest ready to kill him.

But brave Soran managed to find an Evri cardboard box that he used to push the knife-wielder away.

The robber then staggered backwards and started launching gin bottles at Soran.

Soran, who is Kurdish and has lived in the UK for 15 years, said: ‘He come in and put on the mask and I can just see the eyes.

‘I know him, but I think he’s drunk and wants to get beer as he walked towards the fridge.

‘He starts coming to with this big knife. He took out the knife and said open the till.

Soran said he was prepared to get into a physical fight with the robber (Picture: SWNS)

Soran made it clear his objective is to defend his shop (Picture: SWNS)

‘I said no, he said he was going to kill me. He told me to open it again. He put the knife towards my chest.

‘I thought at that moment how to defend myself. There was a box parcel for collection.

‘I was thinking how can I best protect myself as he had the knife. I don’t have any training.

‘I noticed this box was quite heavy, like 10kg.

‘I defended myself. I hit him and he lost control. He went back 3m and he got shocked.

‘I picked up the parcel and used it to make him lose control. He was pushed back two or three metres. I used it to push him back.

At one point the robber tried to smash Soran’s face in with a gin bottle (Picture: SWNS)

‘He took a bottle of golden gin and tried to smash it on my face. It cut my hand.

‘He’s come again and tried to smash another bottle on my face. He said open the till again.

‘I told him, ‘I know you, if you want to fight, let’s fight.’”

It was only when Soran said he knew the burglar he ran away after he attacked Soran five times and the pair got into a fight.

Miraculously, Soran only suffered small cuts and grazes on his arm – and was back at work the next day.

Soran continued: ‘I picked up the parcel and he’s ran away. I said I don’t need to follow him, I know him, I find him.

Soran proudly defends his shop as police now investigate the incident (Picture: SWNS)

‘The police came and took evidence and details.’

A spokesperson for West Mercia Police said: ‘Police responded to a call of an attempted robbery of a commercial property on Worcester Road in Malvern around 7.55pm on Saturday, August 26.

‘The offender entered the shop with a knife and demanded cash. This was unsuccessful and the offender left empty handed.

‘Enquiries are ongoing to locate the offender. The victim suffered minor injuries.’

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Soran is not someone you should mess with.