Armed robbers take CCTV to cover tracks


08 August 2006 09:22

Armed robbers covered their tracks after holding up terrified staff at a city store - by stealing the CCTV footage which caught them in the act.

Two raiders threatened shop staff with a four-inch knife before forcing them to hand over cash, cigarettes, alcohol and the CCTV video.

The pair burst into the One-Stop convenience store in Constitution Hill between 5pm and 5.25pm on Sunday.

A terrified shop supervisor was led from the counter by knifepoint to the shop's office where the safe and CCTV video are kept.

The CCTV device was ripped out of its socket and hauled away with £397 in cash, an 18-pack of Carling lager and eight packs of Benson and Hedges 20 cigarettes.

The supervisor and a cashier also working at the time of the attack were both off work yesterday, recovering at home.

Shop manager Tom Shapcott, 30, said it had been a terrifying ordeal.

He said the supervisor had been conned into thinking one of the robbers was a customer and took him to a quiet spot to discuss his top-up phone, before pulling out a kitchen knife.

Mr Shapcott said: “The robber ushered the supervisor into the office which he made him open and told him he would stab him unless he complied.

“He then told him to sit on the floor, all the while threatening to kill or stab him with the knife. He ripped the CCTV wires out and took the video. He then led the supervisor out of the office and told him and the cashier to open the tills.”

Police said the first man was white, between 5ft 8ins and 5ft 10ins, of average to stocky build with a tanned complexion. He had short cropped dark hair and stubble. He is thought to have been aged between 30 and 40 and wore loose-fitting stone-washed jeans and a blue/green top.

The second man was white, aged between 18 and 19, about 5ft 10ins and was thin. He had short fuzzy-looking light brown hair and was wearing a plain white T-shirt.

Police are keen to trace any customers who were in the shop at the time of the robbery or anyone who saw the offenders making off from the scene.

Anyone with information about this incident should contact Det Con Dan Cocks at Norwich CID on 0845 4564567 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Do you have a crime story? Telephone Evening News crime reporter Peter Walsh on 01603 772439 or e-mail peter.walsh@archant.co.uk

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