Two knife robbers beaten up by 6ft 7in former soldier in wheelchair
Roger Mercer, fought off attackers who tried to steal his phone by swiping 8in blade and ramming his thumb in their eyes
TWO knife robbers were beaten up by a wheelchair user who turned out to be a a 6ft 7in Army veteran.
They approached Roger Mercer, 38, by a canal and demanded his phone.
But he swiped the 8in blade out of the hand of one yob and floored him with a single blow.
He then rammed his thumb in the eye of the other. The pair quickly fled in Chester.
Roger, said: "This one lad had a hoodie which was pulled tight around his face and he was holding a curved blade, between six and eight inches long.
"I was able to get the blade out of his hand straight away and it got thrown to the side. I also sent him flying.
"He was there going 'what the hell?' He probably wasn't expecting a wheelchair user to fight back.
"Someone else then grabbed me from behind but I managed to get my thumb into his right eye socket. He let go very quickly.
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Dad-of-five Roger, who did 11 years’ service until he suffered a spinal injury in Afghanistan in 2007, added: "I've had self-defence training in the Army and spent two years in Northern Ireland as well as Bosnia and Afghan so I'm used to the rough stuff.
“They must have thought ‘easy pickings’.”