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| Lightwater bank robbers sentenced to total of 15 years A man and a woman have been sentenced to a total of 15 years at Guildford Crown Court today (13 December) in connection with a robbery at Barclays bank in Guildford Road, Lightwater on Friday 29 December 2006. Thirty-seven year old William Arthur Day, a bricklayer from Bayside, Bracknell received 9 years and 22-year-old Gemma Roberts from Constable Way, Sandhurst, Berks who was working as a cashier in the bank at the time of the offence, received 6 years. They both pleaded guilty to robbery earlier this year.
The raid at Barclays bank in Guildford Road happened at 2.24pm, when two female members of staff, one of whom was Roberts, were tied up by the robber, who then stole a large sum of cash from the ATM machine. Day was involved in the crime when he helped the robber to escape by opening the bank door for him. The robbers used a blue Audi A4 as their get away vehicle, which was later recovered in Bracknell. Day and Roberts were arrested in the early hours of Friday 5 January 2007 at an address in West Molesey, Surrey following an intense police investigation which included house to house enquires, media appeals, viewing CCTV footage and use of forensic science. This incident has had a profound affect on the other cashier and her family who was working at the time. Her victim impact statement, read out in court, stated that not only did she suffer physical violence during the robbery but this has had a significant impact on her emotional well being. She has not returned to work and continues to recover from her ordeal. She believes that this crime would not have been possible to commit without the help of Gemma Roberts. DI Wendy Whiting from North West Surrey Police who led the investigation said: “We are very pleased with today’s sentencing which demonstrates that Surrey Police is bringing more offenders to justice and detecting more crime. This has been a long and complex police investigation involving a lot of hard work from many officers and staff and we are pleased that it has been brought to a successful conclusion today. We also hope that this result brings some form of closure for the victim in this attack.”
For more information call Helen Williamson, Press and Publicity Officer for North West Surrey based at Woking on 01483 630262 E-mail: 10357@surrey.pnn.police.uk
Call 0845 125 2222 for all non-emergency policing matters. Call 999 if you have a genuine emergency requiring the attendance of the police (eg a crime is in progress or someone is in immediate danger). Call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 if you have information about crime and don't want to leave your name. For up-to-date news see our website at: www.surrey.police.uk
North West
Surrey Police, Direct Line 01483 655785
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