Grandfather's gun terror in park

Lancashire, UK --A TERRIFIED grandad was held up by a robber who threatened to blow his head off unless he emptied his pockets.

Retired psychiatric nurse Baah Heyford was targeted as he took his daily stroll through Queen's Park, Blackburn.

And he said: "I thought right this is it, my time is up.' I thought I was a dead man."

advertisementPolice said the attacker is thought to have been drinking with a gang of around six other Asian teenagers before threatening Mr Heyford, 67, of Hillside Close, Blackburn, who suffers from a heart condition.

The retired psychiatric nurse at Queen's Park Hospital, Blackburn, said: "I was walking round the park when this young lad pulled out a gun and said he was going to blow my head off.

"You hear about so much gun and knife crime these days that you have to take it seriously.

"I was extremely frightened. I didn't know what he wanted me to do because I had no mobile phone on me or no money. I had left it in the car, which I had left just at the entrance of the park.

"He kept telling me to empty my pockets and then shouted put your hands up before I shoot you.

"This went on for a while until one of his friends pulled him away and said to me it's not a real gun. But it certainly looked real to me.

"It was about six inches long."

My Heyford, who moved to Blackburn from Ghana in the 1960s to work as a nurse, has three sons, a daughter and six grandchildren.

He added: "I could have been killed. I was badly shaken. In all my life I have never experienced anything like it. I couldn't sleep the night it happened. I had to take two tablets and my wife Janet was also really shaken by it as well, she couldn't believe it had happened. I suppose I was lucky to escape in once piece."

The robber, who struck at 5.30pm on Bank Holiday Monday, was an Asian male, between 18-24 years old, 6ft 2ins, with very short, dark hair and a clear complexion.

Det Sgt Chris Mccreadie said: "The victim has obviously been left extremely shaken by the incident although he was not injured. The aggreaved was simply on his way home, minding his own business when he had a gun held to his head and was threatened.

"We do not know if the gun was real or imitation but in any event the offence is being taken very seriously as incidents of this nature will not be tolerated. Officers have been up to the park to speak to any potential witnesses and to speak to some of the boys who we believe were in the gang."

Anyone with information should contact Blackburn Police on 01282 51212 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 .