Woman routs armed bandits with fake pistol at London shop . Miss Alice Lloyd , proprietress of the Sidney Wine Stores in Sidney Road . Homerton , London , beat off three men , one armed with a revolver , who walked into her shop and demanded money . Miss Lloyd ' s sole weapon was a novelty cigarette case in the shape of an automatic pistol . Miss Lloyd was in the shop with a friend when three men strode in and their leader presented a revolver at the two women . His two companions had bolted the door . The man with the revolver demanded money , and Miss Lloyd dashed into her inner room and grabbed a cigarette case which looked like an automatic pistol and which her friend had just bought from New York . She rushed back into the shop , levelled it at the men and said ' It ' s my turn now . You can all put your hand ' s up ' . All three raiders then ran into the street . Miss Lloyd dashed after them still waving her imitation pistol , but they got away . Photo shows , Miss Alice Lloyd showing how she routed the bandits with the imitation pistol . 10 April 1934