Leeds cafe owner raises £500 for elderly man who was robbed and assaulted in Armley

The 79-year-old man was pushed to the floor outside Lloyds TSB bank, Town Street, on Wednesday.

His wallet was snatched from him and £200 was stolen.

The incident has angered the Armley community and although the victim was not seriously injured, he was left shaken by the incident.

Leon Awane, who owns Leon's Cafe, saw what happened and rushed to help the man.

He then launched a collection box on Thursday to replace the stolen cash.

He said on Friday: "Sometimes you don't have time to think, you know.

"You see someone on the floor and you just go and grab him and help him - you have no time to think 'oh' why should I help him.'

"We will be handing the money collected to him today, a total sum of £485.75.

"The credit goes to all those who put money together to help out as members of the community."

Mr Awane has been running his cafe in Town Street for a year, but has been in Leeds for 32 years.

He added: "It's a nice community. It's lovely. I could have gone anywhere, anywhere I wanted to open a business, but the only reason I chose to be in Armley was because it's a beautiful place."

Armley residents have praised Mr Awane's thoughtful actions.

One resident said: "Such a lovely bloke, always there with a helping hand. Anything to be done within our community in Armley and he's first in line helping in anyway he can.

"Such an admirable man."

Another resident added that Leon was a "superb" member of the Armley community.

They added: "It's not all bad in Armley."

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