* A c-store customer was left seriously injured after trying to tackle two armed robbers at a store in Shropshire.
The man was the only customer in the Spar store in Bridgnorth when the pair of masked men walked in and threatened two female members of staff with a knife and handgun. When the customer tried to intervene, they stabbed him in the stomach and then fled. The customer was taken to a local hospital. His condition is described as comfortable.

* Three hooded youths held up a c-store in Coventry and stole cigarettes worth £8,000 and £1,700 in cash. The three men entered the Mills store on the Kenpass Highway in the city and threatened two staff members with a handgun. They then made off with money and cigarettes, leaving the staff shaken but unhurt.

* Police in Devon and Cornwall have warned c-store retailers to be on the lookout for a gang of robbers who are distracting staff in order to steal valuable items from back rooms.Police say the gang of three men have carried our their scam in both counties. One gang member pretends to have learning difficulties, while another asks about a product, leaving the third to break into any back room or office area and steal money and valuables.

* Five members of a masked gang who terrorised retailers in the South East over a three-year period have been jailed for a total of 40 years. Blackfriars Crown Court heard that the men had robbed stores indiscriminately and threatened staff with crowbars. According to evidence, the gang stole from more than 30 Sainsbury’s outlets and took a total of £360,000 in cash and goods. Police lying in wait at Sainsbury’s in Liss, Hampshire, finally caught the thieves.

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