FEARLESS shop worker Anika Moore sprang into action when a thieving heroin addict tried to grab cash from her till.

She slammed the cash-drawer shut, and used all her weight to trap the thief by his hand.

Even when the criminal started punching the petite 19-year-old, she refused to let him escape.

And although the attacker eventually managed to break free, he was caught by Anika's colleagues at Sainsbury's in the Brunel Centre.

Now, 37-year-old homeless drug addict Sergio Nobre Simones is waiting to be sentenced after admitting charges of attempted theft and assault.

The drama began when he tried to buy a packet of chewing gum during Anika's evening shift.

"As I opened the till, he leaned forward, and I thought he was trying to tell me something," said Anika, a store supervisor who has worked at Sainsbury's for three years.

"Then I saw his hand come round into the till.

"I just instinctively dropped his change, and slammed the drawer shut.

"I leaned on it, using my body weight to keep it shut.

"He began punching the hell out of my shoulder, but I just didn't want him to get free.

"I was screaming to my colleagues to press the panic alarm."

Eventually, he shoved Anika away from the till and fled the store with two of her quick-thinking colleagues in pursuit.

Mohammad Karim and Rob Cowley collared him in the Boots store next door.

They dragged him back to the supermarket, and sat on him until the police arrived.

It took several hours for the trauma of the attack to sink in for Anika.

"I just suddenly started crying," she said.

"I'm 5ft 4in, and he was about 6ft and of medium build.

"Soon afterwards my whole shoulder came up in a giant bruise."

After giving a statement to police, she was comforted by her boyfriend Patrick Jones, 23, at their home in Swindon's Alfred Street.

"Patrick just couldn't believe it, but he was very proud of me," she said.

Despite what Nobre Simones did, Anika feels some compassion for her attacker.

"He must have been going through a hell of a lot of problems with heroin," she said.

"But I don't go to work to deal with incidents like this.

"I'm just trying to earn an honest living."

Following her ordeal, on April 27, Anika had to take some time off work because she found it too distressing.

Store manager Di Blackburn praised Anika's courage.

"I am very proud of how Anika and the other members of staff reacted that day," she said.

"All our staff receive training on dealing with customers and handling incidents like this. But Anika went well beyond the call of duty.

"Her automatic reaction was to stop this man taking our cash.

"I think it was because our staff take great pride in their work here."

Nobre Simones, who is Portuguese, was remanded in custody by Swindon magistrates this week after the court heard he was homeless and had a heroin habit.

He will appear for sentencing on September 8.

Tamash Lal