Robber ‘inspired by Peaky Blinders’
POLICE stormed a house after a man brandishing a log attempted to rob a newsagent then barricading himself inside a nearby house.
A major emergency response was prompted following the incident in Reddish on Saturday afternoon.
Police were called to a newsagent on Longford Road West shortly after 12pm to reports of a robbery.
Officers attended the scene and established that a man involved in the robbery had fled the scene and accessed a nearby house.
The man had positioned himself on a window ledge and refused to come down, police said.
A large stretch of the road was taped off with numerous police vehicles including TAU vans and an ambulance inside the cordon.
After three hours of negotiations, police dressed in full riot gear stormed the property and arrested the shirtless male suspect.
It is believed a 14-yearold child known to the man was inside the property when he barricaded himself inside.
A shopkeeper who runs a newsagent’s on Longford Road West said a customer came in brandishing what he described as a “wooden log” and demanded he hand over cash.
“He came in and he was asking me to hand over my till, I think he was drunk”, the shopkeeper said.
“I just tried to keep him out of the shop and pushed him, not aggressively but gently just to keep him out.
“He started saying ‘don’t push me. He said ‘I take all the money.’ I think he was inspired by Peaky Blinders or something like that.”
“The postwoman was across the road, was seeing what was happening and called the police.”
“When he noticed the van he started to run.”
Witnesses described seeing the man run to a nearby house and is said to have barricaded himself in an upstairs bedroom.
A man could be seen sat on a window ledge which faces out onto Longford Road West.
Shortly before 4pm, a ladder was placed up against the window and an officer began climbing it as officers wearing riot gear went in the front door of the property.
A shirtless man could then be seen being led out of the house into an ambulance inside the cordon.
The homeowner said her 14 year-old son was inside the property at the time that the man, who she described as an “associate” entered the property.
“I found out off a neighbour. I got told there was someone hanging out of my window.
“I was heartbroken and freezing. I was in tears. I was left stood outside for over three hours, I just had my pyjamas on I had to go to a neighbours to warm up and get some clothes.
“I was also really worried about my son. He was in the kitchen with our two scared dogs. The bedroom is a mess now.”
A spokesperson for GMP said: “At 12pm today police were called to reports of a robbery at a newsagents.
“On going to investigate a man believed to be involved went to an address where he put himself in a position of vulnerability.
“Police entered into negotiations to try and get him to remove himself from the window. He refused to do so.
“Some three hours later police intervened and removed him from the window. An adult male has been arrested.”