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Gunmen in £60,000 Hove Tesco robbery

8:40am Monday 29th September 2008

comment Comments (32)   Have your say »

By Andy Chiles »

Shocked shoppers watched in horror as gunmen stole £60,000 from a supermarket, warning security guards: "We'll blow your brains out."

Two masked robbers leapt from behind a hedge and held a gun against the head of a security worker outside Tesco in Church Road, Hove, on Saturday.

They demanded that the man, a driver for money moving firm Group 4 Securicor, handed over bags containing a large sum of money which had just been brought out of the supermarket.

The pair ran off through a block of flats to a car parked in Connaught Road and sped away.

Sussex Police said the violent attack had happened very quickly and the men had made their getaway before officers reached the scene.

The raid happened at 11.40am, one of the busiest times of the week for the supermarket, and was seen by dozens of shoppers.

Eye-witnesses said the G4S driver had come out of the store carrying the cash and put it on the turntable system on his van for a colleague inside to collect and securely store.

As he did the gunmen sprung from their hiding place, wearing masks to cover part of their faces.

One onlooker said: "The robbers put a gun to the guard's head and banged on the side of the van and said: "If you don't turn the money back around we're going to blow your colleague's brains out"."

The guards handed over the cash and the men made their escape.

Sources said between £60,000 and £80,000 in cash was being collected from the store.

Sussex Police said a red hatchback VW Golf getaway car was spotted driving at speed out of Connaught Road and was discovered abandonned in Mortimer Road, in Poet's Corner, Hove, 20 minutes later.

Both gunmen were male and described as in their 20s or 30s and between 5'8" and 6'0" tall. Police said one was black or dark skinned and the other was white or Arabic in appearance. One wore a flourescent jacket and the other wore dark clothes and a baseball cap.

Sussex Police were speaking to witnesses yesterday and have appealled for any others and anyone with information to call DS Chris Sherwell at Brighton CID on 0845 6070999.

DS Sherwell said: "This was obviously very traumatic for those people involved."

A Tesco spokesman said: "Several of our staff were fairly shaken up but none of them or our customers were hurt. We are doing whatever we can helping the police with their investigation. We are reviewing CCTV footage."

G4S said neither of its couriers was hurt in the attack.

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Your Say YourArgus

william of orange, Brighton says...
3:50pm Sun 28 Sep 08


...another day another armed robbery...while PC Plod (Politically Correct Plod) was probably busy hiding in a bush to catch those nasty car owners!

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SimonS, Hailsham says...
5:09pm Sun 28 Sep 08

Traffic police generally don't deal with robberies so your point is null and void. Plus nobody died from this robbery, a nasty car owner can kill if going to fast. Shame there weren't any police speedchecking along Lewes Road to catch the idiot who ran over a bus driver: http://www.theargus.
co.uk/news/3709486.B
righton_bus_driver_i
njured_by_hit_and_ru
n_driver

Report this post »

bug eye, hove says...
5:19pm Sun 28 Sep 08

sounds like a good time to start zero tolerance on drug dependent nobs of brighton and hove or the possees from south east london and croydon. lets hope they are caught as hove is becoming a slum under celia barlow mp.

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Guerrero, Alicante says...
6:14pm Sun 28 Sep 08

Surely one of the many CCTV cameras in this area must have some decent footage.Is't that why they are tolerated?They're not there to spy on you,but to keep you safe from the nasty robbers.

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CivicMan, Hove says...
6:15pm Sun 28 Sep 08

Would have been amusing if they'd been stuck at the traffic lights in Sackville Road in the getaway car - I seem to spend hours sitting there....

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Daisy Johnson, Hove says...
6:49pm Sun 28 Sep 08

What is Hove coming to. Years ago you could walk from Church on a Sunday morning, prayer book in one hand, handbag in the other and hum your favourite hymn. You cannot anymore. My sister and I, she is a baptist, meet after church for coffee, you see some very odd people walking about. The other Sunday we were sit having coffee at our favourite coffee shop, when out of the blue came a young lady walking along eating a bag of chip. Who does that on a Sunday, my sister was horrified. If these shops and stores did not open on Sundays then Tesco would not have been robbed. OH! I forgot to say for you record I am Church of England, not many in the congregation but the vicar is lovely, pity he never married.

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dolphy, hanover says...
7:22pm Sun 28 Sep 08

It was Saturday though.

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Katt, Portslade says...
7:22pm Sun 28 Sep 08

This explains all the commotion. I was instore at the time and heard the announcements for security to go to the front of the store. By the time we got outside the police helicopter was flying over the store. Very relieved that my children and I didn't witness the actual robbery. Must have been scary. Makes you wonder what this world is coming to when things like this happen at such a busy time in broad daylight. There seem to be NO boundaries these days. Thank goodness there are no reports of injury.

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dodgy, hove says...
8:00pm Sun 28 Sep 08

Makes a change from Tesco's robbing us!

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Daisy Johnson, Hove says...
9:13pm Sun 28 Sep 08

Thank you, dolphy,dear, my sister and I get confused at times. Bless you dear for correcting us.

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whatever, Brighton says...
11:08pm Sun 28 Sep 08

Day light robbery in Tesco Hove and Fat Boy Slim is on the front page of The Argus.

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bertnz, brighton says...
12:28am Mon 29 Sep 08

watch out... prices will go up to compensate there loss....

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davyboy, abingdon, oxon says...
8:16am Mon 29 Sep 08

if the security guards had been doing their jobs properly, then there should only have been 1 bag of cash available to the robbers. each bag passed into the van should have placed in the vehicle safe, and the guard should only carry 1 at a time. before anyone asks how i know this, i have done this job, so do know what i'm talking about. each bag should only contain a certain amount of cash, therefore limiting the amount crossing the pavement at any one time.

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BBBrighton, Brighton says...
9:22am Mon 29 Sep 08

must've been pretty horrible for the poor security guard but it does come with the territory for them guys and Im sure he's trained to deal with it, 60k for Tescos won't even register on the radar, probably 10mins worth of trading for them, and it's all insured anyway....I love they way they jump from behind a hedge - clearly a well planned heist

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busylizzy278, Hove says...
10:00am Mon 29 Sep 08

Two daylight robberies in one day: Tesco and BB4!!

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Human Machine, Portslade says...
10:17am Mon 29 Sep 08

Why wasn't the cash in one of those locked boxes that squirt red dye all over the thief? Why was the money in bags? I didn't think anyone did that these days.

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feline1, Brighton says...
10:32am Mon 29 Sep 08

I think the key point here is that the robbers were hiding behing a hedge.
Although many thousands of miles have been destroyed in Britain in the last century, clearly their menace still remains, and those hedges that are left are a haven for bandits such as these.

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Bobster, Shoreham says...
10:37am Mon 29 Sep 08

whatever wrote:
Day light robbery in Tesco Hove and Fat Boy Slim is on the front page of The Argus.
That'll be because BB only happens once a year!

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wellard, Brighton says...
10:49am Mon 29 Sep 08

Some of the comments here are hilarious. Feline1 has me in stitches. :)


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tilburyre, Worthing says...
11:07am Mon 29 Sep 08

Since when, Simon S, do we have the equivalent of CHIPS? Our police are police who sometimes take traffic duties. If fewer of them were unnecesarily deployed this way we might see less gun and knife incidents.

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sooq, brighton says...
12:17pm Mon 29 Sep 08

dodgy, hove says...
8:00pm Sun 28 Sep 08
Makes a change from Tesco's robbing us!

What a pathetic thing to say! May have been slightly amusing had it been a story about someone running out of the store with a trolley of goods that hadn't been paid for, but this was a serious offence in which two guys trying to get on with their jobs lives were threatened, and many shoppers and no doubt their children witnessed this dreadful event, so please..think before you speak!

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Andy R, Hove says...
1:23pm Mon 29 Sep 08

whatever wrote:
Day light robbery in Tesco Hove and Fat Boy Slim is on the front page of The Argus.
Hmmmm....the robbery IS on the front page of the Argus. There's a special wraparound advertising a supplement on the concert, but the robbery is the lead headline on the front page proper of the paper.

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bug eye, hove says...
2:07pm Mon 29 Sep 08

cops on the aA23 north and a27 east and west should have immediately deployed a road block or surveillance for this red vw golf with two dark skinned gentlmen in. lets see if our cctv works now, and if this police force will start to get tough on drugs, brighton and now especially hove under labour is seen as a soft touch for criminals and druggies, and the general down and outs.

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crawley luxury - surely a mistake!, brighton and hovel says...
2:48pm Mon 29 Sep 08

Its only Tesco money, if anyone can afford to be robbed its them!

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disgruntledHove, hove says...
6:35pm Mon 29 Sep 08

Crawley luxury should realise that 'its only tesco money' means it is the money from people who shop there, and the insurance that will pay out Tesco, will also come from the people who shop there, and the premiums will be raised and that money will also come from the people who shop in Tesco..and the 2p here and the 5p there that gets added onto items in the shop is all down to people who think that stealing is okay because 'it is only Tesco money'. Look at the big picture, not just the frame.

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sooq, brighton says...
6:43pm Mon 29 Sep 08

It doesn't matter who was robbed to be honest..spare a thought for the poor guyswho were robbed at gunpoint, who may find it difficult to return to work.

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MyWord, says...
7:37pm Mon 29 Sep 08

This was a gunpoint robbery, undoubtedly conducted by some really nasty and violent criminals who would probably have not hesitated to use the gun and take someone's life if they'd not got their own way. These types of people do not care what fear they've caused to the poor security guys (whether they've done their job correctly or not!), or to the Tesco staff or shoppers (including kids) present. But all most of you can do is have a poke at the Police (who can't predict hold ups and wave their magic wand and catch the thieves), CCTV which can't be everywhere; The Government (what?!) or Tesco for overpricing I wonder how scared you'd have been if you had been at the other end of all that. And I wonder if you could pursue the gunmen, solve the crime or have dealt with being held at gun point.
Yes it's all too easy to blame, rather than sympathise. Whose really at blame guys?..the mindless and greedy criminals that's who.

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pinkmegan, brighton says...
6:56am Tue 30 Sep 08

But the solution is so simple! Why does there need to be any cash in stores these days????
Everyone has access to a bank account. If stores did not carry cash there would be nothing to steal.

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SirLancelot, Hove says...
12:47pm Tue 30 Sep 08

Hedge funds.

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rhinofish, Hove says...
7:42pm Tue 30 Sep 08

"The pair ran off through a block of flats to a car parked in Connaught Road and sped away."

What block of flats? The only way to get from Tesco to Connaught Road is on a path between the houses and the school carpark.

Removing my comment does not make the article any more accurate. Boo Hiss!

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crawley luxury - surely a mistake!, brighton and hovel says...
10:29pm Tue 30 Sep 08

Tesco Robb people blind on a daily basis. They also pay only a cats whisker above minimum wage and today announced massive ans excessive profits even in a downturn.

I certainly wont be losing any sleep over their lost cash.

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cantmoveforbins, Hove says...
10:50pm Tue 30 Sep 08

"OH! I forgot to say for you record I am Church of England, not many in the congregation but the vicar is lovely, pity he never married."

God it's like 'Gossiping Heads' ..
".. I'll go to the back of our fridge.."

Anyway, SimonS is wrong about traffic police:
"He pointed out the road policing unit’s ability to solve crimes such as burglary, robbery and assault by investigating traffic offences. Last year 40% of its arrests were crime rather than roadrelated."

Source:
http://www.theargus.
co.uk/news/3703452.T
axis_and_buses_in_qu
arter_of_Brighton_an
d_Hove_crashes/

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