“NAME and shame the thugs.”

That was the call from a Huddersfield shopkeeper as a teenager who tried to rob him at gunpoint was locked up for three years.

The boy, now 16, was in the dock at Bradford Crown Court to admit robbery but a judge ruled that he should not be named, despite an appeal from the media that his identity should be revealed.

But his victim, Lockwood shopkeeper Dinesh Joshi, believes he has no right to have his identity protected.

“People should know who this boy is and know who carries a gun in Huddersfield.

“It is wrong that the courts seem more concerned about a criminal’s rights than the rights of the victim.

“It is terrible that he cannot be named. He has been sentenced and jailed and people should know who he is”.

The boy tried to rob Mr Joshi, 52, at his shop last November, threatening him with what turned out to be an imitation gun.

But Mr Joshi and his mother, Mrs Maniben Joshi, 76, who was in the shop at the time, fought back.

They hit the masked robber with a walking stick and he fled from the shop empty-handed.

The case comes only days after the terrible murder of Huddersfield shopkeeper Mr Gurmail Singh by a gang of thugs.

They attacked 63-year-old Mr Singh is his shop at Cowcliffe and beat him to death, possibly with a hammer.

Mr Joshi, who knew Mr Singh, said: “When these thugs do come before a court, there should be a deterrent. Three years is not a bad sentence but in some cases, when people get hurt, it should be many, many more years.

“It is time we had a campaign to stand up for the victims and to make sure the thugs should be named and shamed.”

Click here to read the court report about the 15-year-old who raided Mr Joshi's shop.

SHOPKEEPER Dinesh Josh has been a victim of many robberies and crimes.

The countdown to yesterday’s court hearing is as follows:

Jan 2001: Burglars stole thousands of pounds worth of stock.

March 2001: Mr Joshi was threatened by a man with a knife but fought back and forced the robber to flee empty-handed.

July 2001: He stopped a gang from stealing his till.

December 2001: Mr Joshi was attacked by a gang of teenagers after helping a customer who had been badly beaten.

January 2002: A man was convicted of theft after he was caught shoplifting.

July 2003: Mr Joshi and his mother were attacked by three balaclava-clad robbers as they shut up the shop for the night.

February 2006: Armed thugs attacked Mr Joshi and his mother.

November, 2008: Mr Joshi and his mother used a walking stick to fend off a gun-toting robber.

May 2009: Knife-wielding thug forced to flee when challenged by Mr Joshi

November 2009: The teenage gunman is foiled by Mr Joshi.