Gunmen in raid terror

5:48am Saturday 6th October 2007

A terrified young mother watched on CCTV as robbers wielding guns tied up her husband and threatened him before escaping with a substantial quantity of cash.

Two men wearing balaclavas are believed to have lain in wait for the the shopkeeper at opening time.

When he returned to the Best One convenience store and post office in Thornton Road, Fairweather Green, after he had dropped off his daughter at school the two men attacked.

As he was letting himself into the back door the hooded men grabbed the postmaster before tying him up and demanding money, according to a neighbour who spoke to him just minutes after the raid.

His wife was in the flat upstairs at the time and saw the robbery unfold on the store's internal security camera system shortly before the men fled the shop, the neighbour said.

The robbers escaped with cash boxes from the post office at about 8.40am yesterday.

The shop's security shutters remained closed throughout the day as police cordoned off the area for a forensic team and sniffer dogs to search the area for clues.

The shopkeeper, who is believed to be in his 40s, and his young wife were too distressed to talk yesterday.

However, Gemma Spaven, who was visiting her parents in Thornton Road opposite the shop with her four-year-old daughter, spoke to the postmaster after his ordeal.

"He was really scared and really white. I asked him if he was all right," said the 23-year-old mother of two.

"He said he had just dropped his daughter off at school and come back and they had guns and grabbed him and dragged him into the shop and told him he was going to die if they didn't give him what they wanted.

"He said he thought they were waiting until he got back from taking his daughter to school."

Miss Spaven said that the shopkeeper's wife, who is about 27 or 28, was upstairs during the raid and telephoned police when she saw the robbers on the store's CCTV system.

She said: "She heard the banging downstairs - there is never normally banging at that time in the morning - and she switched on the CCTV and there were these lads with balaclavas on who had tied her husband up.

"It must have scared her a lot seeing him like that."

Miss Spaven, who lived in Thornton Road for 17 years, said the shopkeeper had told her he was thinking of moving out because of the burglary.

She said: "He said he has to think about his little girl because his kids are his world."

Another shop worker, who is in her late 20s, had been on her way to start work just before the robbery happened.

But she had turned back home to pick up her mobile phone and only discovered what had happened when she got to work, Miss Spaven said.

She said: "If she hadn't forgotten her phone, she would have been in there as well."

Miss Spaven added: "They are all lovely people and a lovely family. They were only doing their job running the shop and they are risking their lives. They don't deserve it."

Stephen Ball, 45, who runs Leaventhorpe Fisheries on the parade of shops on Thornton Road, said he was surprised after hearing about the incident.

He said: "It is normally really quiet at that time in the morning and only starts getting busier once the post office opens.

"They came round the back and there were not many people around at the time.

"There has been a lot of CID about and the dog unit as well."

A 40-year-old shopkeeper, who did not want to be named, said: "The alarm was going off when we opened up and then we heard it had been an armed robbery.

"It is the first time this has happened as far as I know."

Bradford North Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "Two males, who were armed with weapons, entered the premises and stole a quantity of cash. A member of staff was present at the time and he has been left shaken up by the incident but not injured."

Anyone who saw people acting suspiciously or saw any suspicious vehicles in and around Thornton Road at the time should contact DS Phil Jagger at the Bradford North helpdesk on (01274) 376259 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.