Terrifying CCTV footage caught the moment two men armed with a machete ambushed a cash-in-transit guard inside a newsagents. Gordon Hopkins and Anthony Hughes targeted the employee in an early morning attack after he entered Haslingden News in Rossendale to fill the cash machine last September.
He was then attacked by the pair, who were also armed with a large piece of wood, before they quickly escaped in a Volkswagen Golf from the Manchester Road store, with three stolen cassettes totalling £80,000 in cash. It was Lancashire Police who later spotted the same car on the M62, less than an hour later.
Officers from West Yorkshire Police stopped the vehicle in Sowerby Bridge. Hughes ran from the black vehicle and across the live lanes of the M62 as Hopkins, 44, fled into a nearby garden and was seen by a witness stuffing items into a wheelie bin while wearing latex gloves. Recovered from the Golf was £80,000 cash and a cloned number plate used in the offence.
Hughes, of Coronation Parade, Leeds, and Hopkins of Spen Walk, Leeds, both pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of an offensive weapon. They appeared before Recorder Nicholas Clarke QC at Burnley Crown Court on Friday (April 1) where they were both deemed to be dangerous offenders.
Both men were given custodial sentences of 13 years and eight months, with an extended licence period of three years and eight months. Lancashire Police said: "We were called around 8.05am on September 13 to report of a robbery at Haslingden News in Manchester Road, Haslingden. Our investigation revealed that as the security guard entered the shop to fill the cash machine he was attacked by two people, one armed with a large piece of wood and one with a machete.
"The robbers, who transpired to be Gordon Hopkins and Anthony Hughes, escaped in a black Volkswagen Golf, having stolen three cash cassettes containing £80,000. Less than an hour later the Golf was spotted on the M62 and our colleagues from West Yorkshire Police stopped the vehicle in Sowerby Bridge."
DS Dave Bowler, of East CID, said: “Hopkins and Hughes are dangerous individuals who travelled from West Yorkshire armed with weapons and intent on committing a pre-planned robbery. Their reckless and selfish actions could have easily resulted in somebody being seriously injured or even killed.
“It was thanks to the dedication and hard work of my colleagues, both in Lancashire and West Yorkshire, that these two individuals are now starting significant custodial sentences. Even when they are released, the fact that they are on licence means they will continue to be monitored by the authorities.
“I hope these sentences send out a clear message that we will not tolerate the behaviour of anybody who arms themselves with a weapon and commits a crime in Lancashire. We will use all the resources at our disposal to identify them, charge them and put them before the courts.”
