BY RONAN MCSHERRY
A Newtownstewart bookmaker has offered a reward for information leading to the arrest of an armed robber who put his staff through a terrifying ordeal on Saturday morning.
John Gallagher's bookies, 'Castle Bet' on Methodist Lane, was held up by a man armed with a handgun shortly after 11am. The robber struck as the shop was being prepared for the day's business. A man believed to be in his late 20s or early 30s wearing a baseball cap, followed a staff member into the office and made off on foot with an undisclosed sum of money. Detectives believe that a second man may have been involved in the raid. It is thought that the accomplice was keeping look-out from the bottom of the street.
Mr Gallagher said, " I was not there at the time. It was a frightening experience for our staff member. He literally handed the money over straight away as the robber had a gun. It happened so fast. The guy that carried out this crime seemed to be inexperienced. He had no gloves on and left fingerprints about the till. As well, he banged his head coming in the door and that seemed to shake him. Apparently he was nervous and it wasn't too professional a job."
The owner of the bookmakers, who took over the business three months ago, believes the premises may have been cased prior to the robbery.
He added, "The shop is a bit isolated so it seemed to be well planned and obviously they had knowledge of the lay-out of the area. They must have been watching the place to plan this."
Chairman of the district council, Gerard Foley, has condemned those that carried out the raid. He urged anyone with information to pass it to, 'whichever body they feel comfortable with, to deal with it.'
The SF Cllr added, "This type of carry-on should not be happening. I hope the staff are OK after such a traumatic incident. The last thing you want to see happening to a man out doing a day's work is something like this. We totally condemn this action and any other type of criminality."
Police have appealed for witnesses or anyone with any information to come forward. The confidential phone line is 0845 600 8000.
