Detectives in Haringey have released CCTV footage of three men they wish to trace in connection with a commercial robbery of a jewellers during which a woman was attacked.
On Monday 15 April at 12:45hrs, a man walked into a jewellery shop in Green Lanes, Haringey, N8 and claimed that he had a piece of jewellery that he wished to have valued.
He handed a ring to the sole female employee. As she was examining the item, the male can be seen on CCTV to put a glove on his hand. Moments later he launched an attack on the woman. She attempted to evade her attacker by running along the back of the counter however the man was able to overpower her, forced her into a headlock and dragged her to the ground.
At that point, two further men forced entry through the door and began ransacking the shop, stealing trays of jewellery from the various display cabinets. The female employee was fortunately able to escape and seek refuge in the rear of the store.
The men were seemingly unable to determine that the trigger switch for the door had to be activated for them to leave. In desperation, they used brute force to attempt to break open the front door however were unable to do so.
The first male escaped with the door closing immediately behind him, leaving his two accomplices trapped. The second male was eventually able to exit through the door. The final suspect could not open the sealed door from the inside. He ran around the shop several times in a frenzied bid to escape and discarded a tray of jewellery on the floor.
A member of the public who was walking past the shop, not realising there was a robbery in progress, approached the door from the outside and opened it. This allowed the male to make off.
Police responded immediately however the males had already escaped.
During the raid glass cabinets were damaged and there was jewellery scattered across the floor which was trampled on and destroyed. The robbers made off with a substantial amount of jewellery and caused extensive damage to the door.
The female victim who was working in the shop at the time is too afraid to speak publicly. However she told officers how the robbery had left her shocked, stressed and very scared. She also sustained a considerable amount of pain on her head from being forced to the ground.
As a result of the robbery, a full security review has taken place and protection has been stepped-up.
