Previously I talked about my time with Bradford & Bingley and the gunman who held up the bank. I left it with the robber getting away with the loot and the bank manageress running to the door to lock it!
I heard the helicopter the moment I started ringing 999 for the police, they were already out to get him. I gave the description of what went on and the general direction he travelled in. I then was told that the helicopter could see a plume of purple smoke from where the double bagged dye bombs had gone off in his bag and that armed units were on the ground going for it!
It just goes to show, you should watch Quentin Tarantino's pulp fiction if you're going to be a robber. They decided to knock off a coffee shop rather than a bank because they are linked to the police and have security. This guy has already knocked off the post office the same week and the police were waiting for him to do it again, nice to be warned.
We were all offered counselling which we duly took up. One of our number broke down in tears as she recounted the horror of not being at the bank when the robbery took place; we all looked to the ceiling as she cried her heart out. To be fair, those of us who were present were suffering from post traumatic shock but none of us believed it.
The robber was caught covered in purple dye; he threw the bag and gun away. The police surrounded him a couple of hundred yards away from the bank. He admitted the crime and got 7 years, which probably meant 2 years and a free lollipop.
Ross broke down in tears when he went to ID the guy, I wondered why the delayed reaction. I wish it had been me who had a cry because for two months after the event I couldn't get to sleep. My subconscious was working away at the reasons why I didn't take the guy on. The reasons were that I would have been shot, but you try telling your subconscious that!
