Co-op store in Halfway is robbed by knife wielding man

Oct 6 2010 by Will Henshaw, Rutherglen Reformer

A KNIFE-wielding thug threaten two terrified shop workers as he robbed the Co-operative store in Halfway on Sunday night.

The incident occurred at 8.45pm on October 3 when a man entered the Co-op store in Hamilton Road, Cambuslang and threatened staff with a knife understood to be a machete.

He then made off on foot with a four-figure sum of cash, believed to be over £2000.

He was last seen heading towards Lightburn Road.

The members of staff - a man and a woman - were uninjured but badly shaken as a result of the robbery.

The suspect is described as around 6ft in height and was wearing a dark coloured parka-style jacket with a fur trimmed hood.

Officers are currently carrying out enquiries in the local area and checking CCTV in an effort to gather more information on the man responsible for this crime.

A spokeswoman for The Co-operative indicated that, as a result of the incident, the shop have had to hire a security guard.

She said: “I can confirm an incident occurred at The Co-operative food store on Hamilton Road, Halfway, at 9pm on Sunday when a man entered the branch, threatened a staff member and stole a quantity of cash. The staff were shaken but unharmed.

“The safety of our staff and customers is of the utmost importance and we take any incident such as this very seriously.

“We are reviewing security measures at the store and while we do not reveal details of these, customers will have noticed a security guard is on duty. We would appeal for anyone with information to come forward and contact the police.”

Detective Constable Gavin Sweeney of Rutherglen Police Office would like to speak to anyone who may have been in the area of Hamilton Road around the time that the robbery took place, and may have seen the suspect hanging around the shop or leaving afterwards.

In particular, he would like to speak to any customers who were in the shop between 8.40pm and 8.50pm, as they may hold information which could assist officers with their enquiries.

He can be contacted on 0141 532 5200. Alternatively Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0141 532 3615, where anonymity can be maintained.