Incident 250 of 24 February

Police are appealing for witnesses to an armed robbery at Russell Lane Antiques in High Street, Warwick at 4.30pm on Wednesday afternoon 24 February.

The robbery occurred when a black male entered the shop on his own and as he was leaving the shop he turned and pointed what appeared to be a hand gun at the shopkeeper and asked him to open the external door.

Three other black men entered the shop. The men forced the shopkeeper to the floor and tied his hands before stealing gold, cash and items of jewellery.

As they tried to leave, four men got locked in between the two exit doors and kicked their way out through the external door.

Police believe the men then split up, with one or more going towards the castle, and one or more going along the high street and then turning left towards the Castle. Somewhere near the castle officers believe they got into a car and drove off.

The shopkeeper was treated by ambulance staff at the scene for superficial injuries.

DS 0934 Iain Shearer from Leamington Spa CID said “We are very pleased with the response from the public around the time of the incident and a number of pedestrians and motorists have already come forward with useful information.

“We would like to thank everyone for their patience, whilst we dealt with the incident, but we still would like to speak to anyone else who saw anything that might be connected to the robbery.

The four men are described as black or mixed race and were dressed mainly in black clothing. One of them was wearing an open faced balaclava, and all the others had nothing on their faces. One of the men was carrying a black and red retro looking sports bag.

Please call us if you believe you saw the men going into or coming out of the jewellers. Did you see them split off, or getting into or out of a vehicle?

If you have any information please call me as soon as possible by asking for DS 0934 Iain Shearer in Leamington Spa CID on 01926 415000 ext 4175 voicemail 10934 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Officers including a dog handler and the force helicopter carried out a search of the area. Officers are checking CCTV and making house to house enquiries.