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Newsagent who fought thief shuts after 50 years

Laura May McMullan,in Hanleyand
Susie Rack,West Midlands
Turner's Newsagents A still image of CCTV of a newsagent with papers on the counter and shelves with confectionary for sale. To the right of the counter, a woman in a black gilet with grey hair wields a stick at a man in black who appears to be bent over with his back to her.Turner's Newsagents
The newsagent used her walking stick to fight off a robber in 2019

A newsagents which hit the headlines when its elderly shopkeeper fended off a thief with her walking stick, is closing its doors after 50 years, citing changing shopping habits.

Turner's Newsagents, on Lichfield Street in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, kept their local community supplied with papers and groceries since January 1975.

Founder June Turner, 89, said she would miss it, despite her daily 04:00 alarm call. "We've got to go sometime haven't we?" she said, adding: "It's been marvellous."

Her son, Alan Turner, who runs the business alongside her, said: "I started when I was 13 as a paper boy here before we had the business, and I'm still doing papers now.

"I think I must be the oldest newspaper boy in the country!"

A close-up of an elderly woman with short blonde curly hair and glasses. She is wearing a patterned green, black, blue and yellow shirt over a purple long-sleeved top. Behind her is a white cupboard and wallpaper and a wall calendar.
Hanley newsagent June Turner is retiring after more than 50 years behind the counter

June Turner remembered her ordeal in 2019, when a homeless thief wrapped in a sleeping bag confronted her, wanting to steal money from the till.

But the then 82-year-old would not stand for it, and used her walking stick - given to her after a recent hip replacement - to fend him off.

"I just hit him on his back and up his bum," she said. "I just smacked him. He really had it."

She was given a £250 High Sheriff's award for her bravery while the thief was later jailed.

A man in glasses with blond hair, wearing a white polo shirt, stands behind a newsagent's counter next to a shorter woman in a patterned green, blue and yellow shirt over a purple long-sleeved top. She has blonde hair cut short and glasses on. To their right is a stand displaying chewing gum.
June Turner has run the shop alongside her son, Alan Turner, who thinks he might be one of the oldest newspaper delivery boys in the country

The decision to shut followed a downturn in business during the Covid pandemic, which the Turners said never really picked up again.

The local community had already been eroded when nearby homes were demolished in 2004 for a regeneration scheme.

"All round here was full of terrace properties and it's taken 15 years before they've actually started rebuilding again and bringing the communities back," Alan Turner said.

"But habits have changed during that time, and it's just one of those things."

A man in a teal hoodie and black T-shirt with brown curly hair stands in a shop, with greeting cards behind him and a window into a car park to his right.
James Turner predicted he would feel emotional when the shop shut for the last time

His son, James Turner, predicted it would be a "bit emotional" to see the shutters come down for the last time on Friday.

"On the whole it's been really good memories. We've had lots of fun and lots of laughs," he said.

Customer Barry Clunn said: "June has been outstanding, absolutely outstanding."

When asked about Alan, he joked: "Oh, he's just in the background. He just helps out."

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