Two masked thieves, one of whom was wielding an 18-inch machete, robbed an off-licence in Salford. The duo struck at the International Wines store on Barton Road in Swinton at about 8.20pm on 20 January 2014. During the terrifying robbery, the knifeman repeatedly waved the weapon at the shop assistant, 51, to intimidate him but thankfully he was not physically attacked. The two men burst into the store and approached the assistant, who was sat at the shop counter on his laptop. The offender produced the machete, which had a two handed grip such was its size, and brandished the weapon in the assistants face. His accomplice grabbed the laptop and tried to run off but the assistant chased them to the door, at which point he was again threatened with the machete if he tried to stop them. The two men fled with the Sony branded laptop and the assistant briefly gave chase but the offenders got away. Police are now appealing to anyone with information about the robbery to come forward. The man with the machete was described as being white, about 5ft 6in tall, of a normal build and wearing a black hooded top with white drawstrings and a white scarf covering his face. His accomplice was white, 6ft tall and wearing black clothing. Detective Constable Dave Cupitt said: If you put yourself in the shoes of the assistant, think how frightened you would be to be confronted by two masked men, one of whom was brandishing a huge machete in your face. The fact these men have access to such a dangerous knife - that was so big it had a two handed grip - means we need to find these men immediately before they strike again. Thankfully the shop assistant was not physically injured but it is totally unacceptable he was threatened in such an intimidating way. This is not an occupational hazard - shop workers should be afforded the same protection at work as everyone else so we need to find these men and bring them to justice. If you have any information about what happened we need to hear from you. If you witnessed this robbery, or saw the men going into or out of the store, or perhaps you know someone who owns such a large knife then we need to hear from you. Anyone with information should call police on 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 10:37:12 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015