Man tries to rob store with fake bomb

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A MAN attempted to rob a Redditch newsagent by claiming he had a bomb under his coat.

The man, believed to be in his late 20s, approached the post office counter at the McColl's store in Church Hill Centre about 5.10pm last Friday (October 19).

He told the cashier to put money in a bag and said he had a bomb under his coat which he would set off if she did not do so.

The cashier, who saw something under his coat with wires hanging out of it, was convinced the bomb was fake and refused to hand over the money.

The man asked her several more times to hand over the money but eventually left the post office empty handed.

He was described as white and wore a dark coloured padded jacket, a red deerstalker type hat and a scarf over the lower part of his mouth.

Det Insp Leighton Harding, of Redditch CID, said: "Staff at the post office were convinced the bomb was fake but were still shaken by the incident.

"We urgently want to hear from anyone who may have seen this man on his way to or from the store as he would probably have stood out wearing the particularly thick jacket and hat.

"The man was seen looking at items in the store for several minutes before the incident so we would also like to hear from anyone who was in the store and thinks they remember seeing him."

Anyone with any information should call Redditch Police on the non-emergency number 101, quoting incident reference 529-S-191012, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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