Bank robber threatens staff with Febreze
A man in North East England threatened staff at a bank with a bottle of Febreze and proceeded to rob them of £370.
North East England man Simon Jones, 38, waited patiently in line to rob County Durham Natwest bank. In the 15 minutes that he stood in line, wearing "blue latex gloves, a pulled-up hooded top, a facemask and dark glasses", no one in the bank remarked on his appearance.
Court proceedings revealed that the manager of the branch, Gemma Hughes, asked Jones if she could help him, to which he replied no. When he reached the front of the line he told the teller that he had acid and a bomb and ordered her to give him money.
With the £370 (almost R7,000) in hand, Jones then made a run for it, jumping into his girlfriend's car (which he had taken without her permission) and speeding away. Fortunately, police apprehended him a few hours later.
Asked why no one suspected that Jones was about to rob the bank, given his strange outfit, bank manager Hughes said she did not ask him to remove his mask for fear of potentially offending him. She told the court that she had to "tread a careful line between upsetting someone who might have had to wear such things to protect their skin or have a nasty motive for wearing such a disguise."
Police found that Jones had previously Googled "how to rob a bank".
Image: Engin_Akyurt