CS gas sprayed in ‘nasty’ robbery

4:20pm Friday 18th January 2002

A PETROL station attendant had CS gas sprayed in his face in a "particularly nasty" £80 robbery.

Police are appealing for witnesses after 22-year-old St Mary Cray resident Anthony Latchford was attacked at the Shell petrol station in Hastings Road, Bromley Common.

Security at the station has been stepped up since the robbery and officers hope CCTV pictures (right) can help identify the robber.

The white male attacker walked into the petrol station shop just after 8pm on Monday, January 14.

He picked up a bottle of water and took it to the counter. When the till was opened, he pulled out a canister of CS gas, sprayed it in Mr Latchford's face and made off with the till's £80 contents.

Mr Latchford said: "In the four years I've worked at the petrol station, nothing like this has happened before.

"The robber behaved like a normal customer and just picked up a bottle of water, then pulled out the spray in my face.

"I couldn't see anything and I realised what had happened. I just headed straight for the office, locked myself in and hit the panic buttons.

"It's made me very wary and I was a bit worried about going back to work. From now on we'll be keeping the doors locked at night.

"I just hope police can catch this person before he does it again."

Detective Constable Brian Cook, of Bromley CID, said: "This was a particularly nasty incident.

"CS gas is a very dangerous weapon. The force of the spray so close to Mr Latchford's face could have caused permanent damage to his eyes.

"We hope anyone with information will come forward, then we can catch the person who did this before they strike again."

The suspect is described as about 20, 5ft 10ins, and of stocky build, wearing a Nike baseball cap and a dark-coloured Adidas top.

Anyone with information about the incident should call Bromley CID on 020 8284 8720.

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