Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Flintshire bar staff step up security after samurai raid

By Michael Youds

BAR staff working at pubs in the Flint area have spoken of their fears following a terrifying armed robbery which left two people hospitalised.

Police are hunting a trio of armed raiders who burst into the Coach and Horses in Flint Mountain in the early hours of Monday, carrying baseball bats and a samurai sword.

A customer was tied up and threatened with the samurai sword, and the pub manager was beaten badly.

Stuart Bickerton-Starkey, director of Lovely Day Inns which owns the pub, called it a “severe and shocking crime” and said staff have been left devastated.

The company is offering a cash reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the raiders.

The attack has left landlords in the area fearing they could be next.Linda Leigh, landlady at the George and Dragon on Church Street, Flint, said she would be stepping up security measures.

She said: “What happened is disgusting and it does make you think.

“I guess they’ve gone in there thinking they’ll get a lot of money but most pubs now, including us, bank daily and we never have much money on the premises.

“All pubs are struggling at the minute and something like this is just not on.”

One member of staff from a Flint pub, who asked not to be named, said: “It’s pretty worrying.

“It’s not the sort of trouble you expect around here, and the terrifying part is that there isn’t really anything you can do to prepare for it. I just hope it’s a one-off and not part of a new trend.”

Detectives want to hear from a group of customers who left the Coach and Horses just before the raid.

The three robbers were all wearing dark clothes and had most of their faces covered with clothing.

Anyone with information should call Mold CID on 0845 607 1002, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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