SE23 Forum

The Barclays bank in Forest hill had an attempted armed robbery today just before 3pm.
luckily someone hit the alarm and smoke filled the place causing the robbers to flee with nothing.


More info here - http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/wou...14226.html

That was a bit brazen, considering your username.

Oh my sides.....

Its true what it says in the article that the bank is in such a conspicuous position that it would be hard to make a swift getaway unnoticed.
As long as the staff were unharmed thats the main thing as they're all so nice in that branch.
Mind-You I once narrowly missed an armed raid at Barclays on Ladbroke Grove (they ran past as I was walking in!) And that branch is also on a corner with lots of passing foot and road traffic.

Looks like Forest Hill's one remaining fire engine attended the scene of the robbery to deal with the smoke.

http://www.southlondon-today.co.uk/news....+engine%27

The newspaper report does not refer to the robbers as armed. Is there anything to substantiate this claim?

If you read the report it actually says "Police were called at 2.51pm to an attempted armed robbery at Barclays in London Road, Forest Hill"

Look closer next time

"Armed" means having a weapon, which could be 'just' a knife rather than a sub machine gun for example.
Not nice but it was not necessarily as dramatic as suggested.

The staff are behind strong glass.

It is usually the guards delivering cash who are attacked and robbed.

Perryman,

I said armed robbery because it was in fact an armed robbery. I doubt they used a knife, a gun is more likely.

I though it was a pretty good location. There are several buses and the station offers trains to various destinations, including the Overground.

These numpties would probably have caught a London Bridge train though.

I highly doubt they would use public transport as a getaway, what with all the cameras it wouldn't be very smart. The most likely way they escaped would be on bikes or in a car. The question we should be asking is how they escaped the bank if all the doors were locked and thick smoke was everywhere.

I think we take this website too seriously sometimes. I think Jollyrog was making a funny!

Quite agree. Mr Robin Banks seems to be very concerned about the details in the postings on this topic.

jollyrog - made my day. Dare I say taking London Bridge bound trains should be mandatory for all bank robbers. Crime rates would drop instantly.

You say instantly, but in my experience some delays are inevitable.