An heroic shop worker has told how he caught a fleeing smash and grab raider twice in the same evening.

An heroic shop worker has told how he caught a suspected smash and grab raider twice in the same evening.

Two men rode up to Norwich jewellery store W R Bullen on London Street at around 5pm on Thursday evening on a small moped before jumping off and each trying to smash a window with gym weights.

They managed to break panes of glass but shoppers and store staff chased them off before they could make off with any of the expensive jewellery inside.

They abandoned their scooter and also left a motorcycle helmet and weight laying in the glass underneath the shattered window before they fled.

Luke Linton, 27, was working in the Panasonic store further up Castle Street at the time.

Having heard an alarm go off he looked out of the window and saw a man running past his shop, followed by a group of people shouting for help to stop him.

Witnesses at the scene said they saw a man in a suit who threw off his jacket to give chase, and a schoolboy in a blazer who also bravely ran after a man.

'I thought I'd better do my bit,' he said. 'They were shouting stop him, so I did.'

He was headbutted by the man in the motorcycle helmet in the struggle and was nursing a lump on his head yesterday.

'He came running at me with a crash helmet on. I ran straight into him and tackled him into the wall. I got a little bit of a knock on the head.

'You don't want it happening to you so why would you let it happen to anyone else?'

My Linton used to play rugby for the Crusaders in Little Melton and said he was no stranger to tackling people to the ground.

'I've done it a couple of times but it's generally on grass, not concrete,' he said.

He was helped by security guards from Winsor Bishop jewellers, just 50 yards up the road, who were watching him until the police arrived.

But before officers got to the scene the man had made another bid for freedom and started a 200 yard dash towards the marketplace.

He managed to reach the edge of the market but Mr Linton, who lives in Costessey, gave chase, tackled him for a second time and pinned him down until the police turned up about five minutes later.

'I'm not a very light person so the second time I hit him he wasn't going to go anywhere after that,' he said.

A second man fled in the opposite direction. Local builder John, who did not want to give his second name, told the Evening News: 'He came towards me full pelt. I shoulder-charged him to the wall and managed to get him in a head lock and on to the ground. Then everyone else was helpful.' He said office workers had helped hold the man until the police arrived.

Last night police thanked all of the members of public who played a part.

Sulaima Kamara, 18, of no fixed abode, and Ahmed Ahmed, 18, from London, have been charged with burglary. Anyone with information about the incident or the two men should call Det Sgt Richard Dickinson at Bethel Street CID on 0845 456 4567 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.