GUN GANG’S £500K HEIST ON HOTEL JEWELLER
Masked bandits smash window displays to steal posh watches and gems
A MASKED gang of robbers armed with a shotgun and machetes raided a jeweller at the Gleneagles Hotel in an estimated half-million pound heist.
One of the thugs pointed the shotgun at a
doorman, telling him to “back off ” as they stormed the luxury hotel yesterday.
The gang then used a hammer to smash the front window at the Mappin & Webb jeweller inside and snatched high-end watches and other jewellery worth an estimated £500,000.
Witnesses described seeing the masked men carrying a gun, machetes, baseball bats and hammers before driving off in a blue Audi A4.
The car was found dumped a short distance from the scene near the town of Auchterarder in Perthshire.
The terrifying raid happened at 11am as the hotel was busy with holidaymakers and staff.
A source at the hotel said: “I saw three guys came in through the front door wearing masks over their faces and one had a shotgun.
“They cleared the window displays, which contained mostly watches, before running outside into a car outside which was waiting with a driver in it.
“They sell watches there worth around £20,000 each – so they must have got away with half a million quid’s worth, as they cleared the whole front display.
“They drove down the Old Station Road, dumped the car before running over the A9 and that’s the last anyone saw of them.”
Another employee added: “One of the guys arrived at the reception with a gun. He said to one of the guys who stands at the door to ‘back off ’ and pointed the gun at him.
“The men then went into Mappin & Webb where they threatened more staff and some hotel guests.
“A staff member followed them and saw them run across the A9 before jumping into another car which was waiting in a lay-by.
“I don’t know what way they went on the A9, whether it was towards Dundee or Glasgow.
“Thankfully no staff or guests were injured, though. Something like this could happen at any time here. It’s always open. It could all be done within three minutes.”
Police are understood to have received several reports from eyewitnesses describing the weapons involved.
A group of seven women, who were visiting the hotel for a tour, were caught up in the armed raid and spent several hours giving their statements to police.
Armed officers, dogs and a helicopter were drafted in minutes after the drama unfolded and focused their search on the train station area and roads including the A9.
A large cordon was thrown up around the main entrance of the hotel and guests were initially evacuated but allowed back in a short while later.
The shopping corner of the hotel remained open yesterday but a uniformed officer stood guard inside, blocking members of the public from getting close to the jeweller.
One guest, who is staying at the hotel for two days, said: “I was near my room when another guest came up to me and told me not to go downstairs.
“I thought she was joking at first but she said there had been a robbery and the man who did it had weapons.
“She said there were loads of police and
We can’t believe something like this would happen here HOTEL GUEST
some staff members were close to tears after being threatened by the man.
“We can’t believe something like this would happen here but we’re very thankful for the way the staff have treated us.”
Police appealed for witnesses to the raid to come forward.
Detective chief inspector Andrew Patrick said: “Our inquiry is at an early stage at the moment but what we do know is that four males were involved and were wearing dark coloured clothing.
“They had their faces covered with some sort of material and they were also in a blue Audi motorcar.
“The Audi has since been recovered a short distance away at the town of Auchterarder, just on the outskirts, and we don’t know where the men went from
that point on. I would appeal to members of the public who saw the men in the Audi either before this incident or at Gleneagles or even when the vehicle was abandoned out in Auchterarder to come forward.”
Mappin & Webb are goldsmiths to the royal family and sell a selection of “premium fine jewellery” including watches by Rolex, Cartier and TAG Heuer.
No one from the firm was available for comment yesterday.
A Gleneagles spokesperson said: “We were shocked by a robbery which took place this morning at the Mappin & Webb shop based in the hotel.
“The hotel was evacuated immediately in line with emergency protocol and thankfully nobody was hurt as a result of the incident.”