A SHOP owner said he has been left traumatised after a man shattered his shop front and assaulted staff and police officers.

Nitin Bhayani said he had never experienced such violence in the nine years he has been the owner of the Tollgate Post Office, in Main Road, Dovercourt.

Mr Bhanyani, 63, said: “The man came into the shop asking for credit to buy more drinks and spirits, but we didn’t give him any.

"He already had a bottle of Captain Morgan in his hand which he later smashed into the shop window.

“He got really abusive to the member of my staff, Andrew Walls, pushing him and being verbally abusive.

“Andrew managed to get him outside but he wouldn’t allow him to lock the door by putting his foot in the door.”

He said the man started kicking the window, so Andrew tried putting the shutter down but this did not stop him from “completely shattering the glass”.

Mr Bhayani said: “We had to replace it all and had to call the company out to replace the motor of the shutter as well as it’s not working at all.

“It was traumatising for both of us, we’ve never experienced something like this before.

“No-one deserves to be treated in this manner, it puts us off from wanting to trade in the area. Usually we have old customers who use the post office or the small shop but we close it at 8pm because we won’t tolerate any nonsense.”

Charlie White, 29, of Priory Close, St Osyth, appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court where he admitted criminal damage and assaulting police officers.

He was sentenced to 12 weeks in jail and fined £250.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “White damaged some glass panels from a door and the shutters of the post office.

“He spat at officers at the scene and he kicked another officer when in custody.”

Mr Bhayani praised the police officers for attending the incident within a few minutes of his call.

He said: “They have informed us of the arrests and charges made and continued to give us support throughout.”