Undone by a sock
Robber who tried to blame brother faces jail:
AN armed robber is facing a jail sentence after telling officers he was at work during the raid and claiming his brother was the offender.
Geoffrey Urwin, of Balmlaw, Gateshead, was convicted of carrying out the terrifying raid at a bookmakers on Durham Road in Low Fell.
Newcastle Crown Court was told how the 37-year-old burst into Corals in August 2018 wearing a balaclava and carrying a hammer covered in a sock.
He took around £800 from the till before threatening staff with the hammer and ordering them to open the safe.
It was then a brave customer confronted Urwin, causing him to flee the scene, inadvertently leaving the sock that had been covering the hammer at the scene.
Detectives at Northumbria Police immediately launched an investigation and sent the seized sock for forensic analysis to try to identify their suspect.
It came back as a match for Urwin but upon his arrest he tried to claim he was at work at the time and that the offender must have been his brother.
A height analysis of CCTV footage showed the suspect was 6ft 6in Urwin, while his brother is three inches too short.
Detectives were also able to prove Urwin was not working at the time of the offence and he was charged with robbery and common assault.
Urwin continued to deny the charges but was convicted by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court on March 18 and will face jail when sentenced at the same court on June 14.
Following the case, Detective Sergeant Steve Patterson said the case showed how police will use different tactics to “unpick the lies of criminals trying to evade justice”.
He said: “Geoffrey Urwin attempted to deny his involvement in this robbery from the moment he was brought into police custody and I am delighted the jury saw through his lies.
“He has claimed he must have donated the sock found discarded at the scene to a charity shop before changing his story and saying the robber must have been his brother.
“But the mountain of evidence against him was so high that there is no doubt in my eyes that any jury were going to convict him of these offences.
“He has put his terrified victims through the ordeal of a trial and as a result he will be handed a significant sentence when he next appears at court.
“This case shows the lengths we will go to unpick the lies of criminals trying to evade justice and I hope that reassures our communities.”
ARMED ROBBER LEAVES HIS SOCK AT THE SCENE... CLAIMS IT WASN’T HIS AFTER DONATING IT TO CHARITY... THEN CLAIMS HIS BROTHER DID IT!