A TEENAGER robbed and threatened with what he believed to be a gun said he was “terrified” he might be shot.

William, 19, who did not want his surname published, was crossing People’s Park, Banbury, on the way to his girlfriend’s house in Queens Road on Sunday, December 29, when the robber pointed what he thought was a gun in his face.

The teenager, from Bloxham, handed him £35 and ran out of the park when the attacker demanded his mobile phone.

He said: “I was shocked, I couldn’t believe it had just happened.

“When he first pulled out what I thought was a gun I was terrified, I just stopped in my tracks. But I’m quite a logical person so I quite quickly weighed up the situation.

“When he shouted ‘Give me everything you’ve got’ he sounded a lot younger than I first thought and I had read that the person committing the crime is usually even more scared that the victim.

“So I thought, this person probably doesn’t want to shoot me.”

William, who is working as a retail assistant while on a gap year before university, said that was why he decided to sprint the 20m to the park gate towards Bath Road.

He had also begun to doubt that the gun was real and took the decision not to hand over his phone.

He added: “When he first pulled the ‘gun’ out he was about 20m away but came to about a metre away from me.

“When I looked at the gun he said, ‘It’s not plastic, it’s a real gun’, which made me think again it was fake.”

He described the weapon as looking like a black handgun about five inches long.

He said another suspect was watching the robbery from about 10m away.

The attacker is described as male, aged about 14 to 16 years old with a local accent. He covered his face during the robbery.

The other youth who was watching was a similar age, of a large build, and had not covered his face.

Investigating officer PC Jade Hewitt said: “I am appealing for anyone who saw what happened or who may know who the offender is to contact police.

“The victim thinks the other boy who was standing nearby knows the suspect and I am asking that he comes forward to provide the police with the identity of the offender.

“The victim was uninjured but was left shaken by the incident.”

  • Anyone with information is asked to contact PC Hewitt via the police 101 number.