Bystander catches armed raiders on camera

Two armed thieves who tried to raid the Uncle Jewellers and Pawnbrokers on Chapel Street, Wigan have been caught on a phone camera by a member of the public. 

The robbery took place at the jewellers just before 1:30pm on Saturday, April 11, when two offenders pulled up outside the store on a motorbike, got off and charged into the shop brandishing a sledgehammer and an axe.

One of the thieves used the hammer to smash through the internal wooden door while the other used the axe to smash the security glass.

However, a “brave” member of staff who was on duty at the time managed to hold the two thieves back by barricading the door, even going as far as to push one of the would-be thieves back through the broken security window.

They then got back onto the bike and rode off empty-handed, after threatening a startled member of the public with an axe.

Detective Constable Kevin Telford said that the attempted robbery, which happened in the middle of the day on a busy Saturday afternoon, caused a lot of commotion and that he had “no doubt” that there was a lot of potential witnesses

He said: “We have obtained a large number of names of members of the public present in the area at the relevant time but I would ask for those people who have not yet spoken to police to contact us.

“There was a very similar robbery at Neil Kay’s Jewellers in Wigan town centre last week, where again the offenders used a motorbike and a sledgehammer to try and steal jewellery, so we are looking into whether these two incidents are linked.

“The shop worker showed incredible bravery in the face of adversity to hold these two thieves back and I would like to commend them for their actions.

“We now need to find those responsible so I would again urge anyone who witnessed this appalling attempted robbery to come forward.”

Greater Manchester Police have urged anyone with information to call 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111.