Armed thieves target Twydall Co-operative

I was going to write this in the form of a news report – as I have done with many of my previous articles. However, in this case, I’d rather make the post a little bit more personal.

At the moment, I am staying away from home – dogsitting for a friend of mine in Hempstead. Yesterday (with his permission) I had another friend of mine round and we were watching a film, playing on the Wii etc.

It came to 20:30. I thought I had to be up early this morning (I later found out I didn’t need to be at University until 13:00) and so I decided to take him home. After so doing, I popped into the Co-operative in Twydall Green to buy a few things. I left at about (and I wasn’t exactly timekeeping) 20:45.

I went home to pick a few things up for Uni, before realising I had forgotten stuff I needed to buy. I went back to the Co-operative on my way up to Hempstead, and was greeted by the sight of the shutter being closed by one of the members of staff. All she had to say was “don’t come in – we’ve been robbed!”.

I don’t mind telling you that that was a pretty scary thought – after all, I had only been gone fifteen, or at most twenty, ?minutes, and had I been around just a little while longer (the police timed it to about 20:50), then I would have been around whilst the incident took place. Much worse, though, is that it reminded me that it could happen to any of us working there at any time. I let my mind wander, not knowing how serious the incident was.

This morning the store was closed, and it was only when I popped in after Uni that I discovered what had happened (the Medway Messenger’s website has this as well, so I’m not exactly revealing anything that ought to be kept quiet).

Two thieves had entered the store wearing balaclavas, demanding the money from the tills. One of them produced a hammer and the staff were “forced to hand over money and cigarettes”, although the exact amount of money is not known.

Thankfully, no one was hurt – although the staff were pretty shaken up.

DS Adam Marshall said:”Medway Police have been quick to launch an investigation into this robbery and are currently following a number of lines of inquiry.”

If you were in?the area around the time the incident took place, then please contact Kent Police on 01634 792681 or Kent Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.