Police say a teenage girl has been left traumatised after she was taken hostage during a violent armed robbery at Jesmond last night.
Police say a man first threatened a 63 year old woman in a Jesmond take away store with a box cutter before approaching the counter and holding the weapon to the throat of a 15 year old female employee.
Money from the till was placed into a paper bag and the man held onto the girl as he backed out of the store.
He then released the teenager and ran from the scene.
Waratah Crime Manager Graham Parker says the level of violence used in the robbery is disturbing.
"They were both subjected to violence way above what was required to get the crime committed. I'm sure that they'll be psychologically scarred probably forever," he said
Detective Inspector Parker says police are seeking public help to identify the man believed to aged in his late 20s.
"He's about 183 centimes tall, dark clothing with a hoodie top," he said.
"His face was concealed with another article of clothing.
"You know we'd really appreciate any sort of assistance we can be given at this early stage of the investigation because we don't want to see this type of thing continue on.
"Certainly there could be a lot worse outcome the next time."
Detectives are examining CCTV footage of the incident.
