Raiders snatch £10,000 from pub
SHOCKING CCTV captures the moment amateur thieves used mobile phones as torches and cuffs of their jackets to cover fingerprints in a pub raid.
The trio of men smashed their way into the Halfway House pub in Royton, and despite their unsophisticated efforts they managed to drive away with £10,000.
Landlord of the pub on Rochdale Road, Karl Spencer, said this amount of loss may put them out of business.
It took the brazen thieves THREE attempts to take the cash - each time heading back out into their silver Peugeot 106 car parked in the pub’s car park.
The thefts took place between 2am and 5am on Monday morning.
Nobody was living in the apartment above the pub at the time but there is normally a staff member who lives there.
Karl said he thought they kept waiting outside to ensure police hadn’t arrived in between their thefts.
Karl, 36, who has been at the pub for two years, said: “They smashed the window to get in and you can see one of them crawling around on the floor and one of the men went straight to the safe under the bar. They left and drove off with it and then realised there wasn’t any money in it so came back.”
The alarm was activated but the group had waited 15 minutes to ensure police hadn’t arrived.
They then smashed open the fruit machine and took the cash. Again, they left and got in their car but came back 15 minutes later.
This time they smashed their way through the pub using a crowbar and went upstairs and stole the safe which had the week’s takings inside.
Karl, who runs the pub with his wife Kim, said: “They used the torches on their iPhones to find their way around and used the cuffs of their sleeves so they didn’t leave fingerprints.
“They also looked straight into the CCTV cameras several times.
“It wasn’t very sophisticated at all. If you take the emotion out of it as well as the cash they stole, it’s actually quite funny.
“If there was ever a way not to rob a place, this was probably it.
“How they have got away with it is astonishing.”
In total they swiped £10,000 - which Karl said may put them out of business.
Some of the cash was waiting to be banked and so Karl said it wasn’t insured.
He added: “We are not sure if we will be able to continue financially. That money pays for staff. We will do everything we can but it’s going to be tough.
“The money has gone but hopefully the police will find these three people.”
A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Police said: Shortly after 10.40am on Tuesday, January 30, police were called to reports of a burglary on Rochdale Road in Royton.
“Three men broke an entry to the premises causing damage to the property. The offenders fled with a large quantity of cash. Nobody was injured.”
Anyone with information should call police on 101, quoting incident number 549 of 30/01/2018 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.