UK & World News
- 26 January 2013, 14:14
Armed Robber Pinned Down During Raid Dies
An armed man has died after being restrained by customers during an attempted robbery at a bookmakers, police said.
The man, in his 50s, was believed to be wearing a gas mask and holding a gun when he entered a Ladbrokes branch on Crownhill Road in Plymouth shortly before 7pm.
Customers managed to disarm him and held him on the floor while others raised the alarm, Devon and Cornwall Police said.
Police arrested the man, who was already unconscious, but he was declared dead shortly afterwards.
"It quickly became clear the man was unresponsive and an ambulance was immediately requested by police who carried out CPR until they arrived," a police spokesman said.
"A few minutes later three paramedics arrived at the scene and continued to carry out further CPR. Around 20 minutes later the man was declared dead at the scene by the paramedics."
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has been informed of death.
Chief Inspector Ian Drummond-Smith said: "This is a very serious incident. We cannot speculate on what has actually taken place here today.
"A full investigation has now begun and while the IPCC carry out their investigation it is not appropriate to comment further."
what do you think?
Luke Grailey
I find it hard to feel sorry for an armed robber. I hope the brave customers dont get the book thrown at them for this!
Jeffrey Gwynn
Tough!!
Londliveengland 66
Wonder what the odds were for that?
johnny_1234
lol
chrishearn350
About 10 to 1 on !
david
he had a gun wrong ,,he was robbing the place wrong,,,whats the odds that his family will try and sue,,,
Londliveengland 66
11/10
Ian Lilley
I can see the European rights to wear a gas mask in public card being played by his family, the gun was planted and the force to restrain him was excessive. He's a wonderful father and family man...
pjbeckett
Don`t forget his unhappy childhood.
Sandra Bryans
Thats tough all round the man is dead an thats bad 4 his family but the poor customers now have 2 live wit wat happend an they cud never have foreseen that x
ali baba
Probs a desperate man RIP
chrishearn350
It was a Betting shop !
andrew
He was a desperate man? Well that makes it ok then!
ali baba
i class rape and child offences much higher robbing a betting shop that robs people daily aint that bad a thing in my opinion
shaun spencer
Very sad for the mans family, but to me this is a clear case of self defence.nobody should be in trouble for this.
bjnk
shaun, it just depends on how many times he was hit or kicked when down and subdued,these things can get out of hand.
Name witheld
This comment has been removed for violations of our Terms and Conditions.
blue side
I was always taught never point a gun unless you are prepared to use it and whilst this might be deemed tragic it can also be held to be a self inflicted injury - sorry if that does not please all
stephen
they killed a man you think that's ok
Diane Rogers
So do you think it's ok to go armed and rob somewhere. He would not have hesitated to shoot one of those people
stephen
Diane lets all do what we want .lets kill who we want . did you know this man, how do you know he would have shot someone
pjbeckett
Di you `ll have to excuse Steven, he`s probably found out that the bloke voted Labour and is therefore blameless
t.bulgin
Yes, It's Thatchers fault probably.
andrew
Totally agree Stephen. It's quite normal to walk into a bookies wearing a gas mask and holding a gun. He's almost certainly going to tell customers whether or not the gun is loaded so he may not have shot anyone! And he's going to be very polite and say please when he asks for the money from the cashier!! Have you run out of fairies to talk to Stephen?
Jasmin Louise
Result!!
Donald Plimsoll
I WONDER WHAT THE ODDS WERE THAT WOULD HAPPEN. and i wonder what the odds were that he never killed those in the shop??????????? and what were the odds those that think its not ok to down him were not in the shop.
t.bulgin
you live by the sword, you die by the sword. Tough.
Louisa Gieldon
The man was commiting a crime but we do not know whether it was his intention to fire the weapon or even know if it was a real gun. He would have terrified the people in the shop and of course that is wrong and deserving of a punishment. But there has been a death and and an investigation into what happened must take place, We know very little about the circumstances of his death or why he did what he did. Such a death should not be celebrated or regarded as good news, regardless of his actions.
stephen
well said Louisa . he may have 6 kids no food in desperation thought he would do this .
Jasmin Louise
Nothing surprises me on these threads anymore....The thumbs down brigade have more compassion for a criminal eh? Pathetic! Nuff said!..........
Jan Smith
if he hadn't been breaking the law and been somewhere else law abiding he'd still be alive.
movvi
I lessen the risk of being killed by avalanche by not skiing in dodgy areas. I will probably not be killed in a train crash as I don't travel by train. I don't expect I will die at the hand of someone trying to defend themselves against me, either, as I won't be attacking anyone. I think it's resonable to hold down a crim committing armed robbery (assuming that this is what happened here) as it's something that usually has to be done. Imagine if someone had held down Derek Bird or the like just before his first shooting. We would never have known what a valuable act that would have been.
Kelly Curtis
2:31am on 26/1/2013
might be that they did not see his distress because of the mask,which also reduced his oxygen.
Windows Live User
11:49am on 26/1/2013
H&S Review Safe working of the planned raid should have shown this up as a possibility