Female staff injured as robber assaults her to escape

A female staff at an Accrington convenience store suffered bruising to her hand and arm, after she was assaulted during a robbery.

The incident happened on Tuesday (4 May) at the Bargain Booze store in Whalley Road has left both female members of staff extremely shaken, after the offender threatened them with a screwdriver before escaping with a quantity of cash.

The hooded man, who had earlier been seen hanging around outside, entered the store at around 6.34 pm, waiting until the store was empty. Once inside, he pressed the buzzer to alert staff of his presence and distracted one of them by asking her to pass him a bottle of wine from the wine display.

He then went behind the counter, threatening the staff with the screwdriver. As she shouted for help from her colleague, the man responded by making threats to both women to open the ATM and till.

Unable to access the ATM, he emptied the till of cash and put it into a carrier bag, which he had brought with him.

One of the store workers has then managed to press the panic alarm, and the suspect found the door locked as he tried to escape. At that point he grabbed one of the store workers and dragged her towards the door, continuing to threaten her with the screwdriver.

Her colleague opened the door and the suspect ran onto Pilot Street and then towards Whittaker Street.

“This was a shocking and appalling crime, which has left the victims extremely shaken,” Det Insp John McNamara, from East CID, Lancashire Police, said

“We understand it will cause the public a great deal of concern and we have increased patrols in the area.”

Detectives have released CCTV visuals of the suspect, appealing for information.

“Although we are in the early stages of our investigation, we are carrying out a number of enquiries to find the individual responsible. As part of those enquiries, we are asking for the public’s help in identifying the man in the CCTV,” McNamara said.

“We would be keen to speak with the male customer who attended as the offender was leaving and also want to hear from anybody with CCTV or dashcam footage from the area at that time, which could assist our investigation.”

The suspect is initially described as white, with a scruffy dark beard, which had some ginger in it. He was wearing a blue jacket, dark bottoms and a scarf that was covering some of his face.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101, quoting log 1239 of May 4, 2021 or report it online. Alternatively contact independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.