Three men arrested after failed raid at jewellers shop

Masked robbers attempted a smash and grab raid on a jewellery shop in Guildford on Tuesday. The frustrated thieves fled the scene when they proved themselves unable to break through the plate glass windows, despite striking several heavy handed blows with a sledgehammer.

Staff at the shop acted quickly to activate the security shutters after glass rained in on the jewellery shop floor, shortly after 2pm in the afternoon. No customers were present inside the shop at the time of the attempted raid.

Shop staff reported not actually seeing the raiders, who fled leaving their sledgehammer on the floor outside the shop after the flunked raid. However eyewitnesses close to the scene reported seeing three masked men running from the vicinity. Surrey police later arrested three men, two who were on a train bound for London and another who was apprehended and arrested close to the station.

This latest robbery follows a string of similar crimes reported in the Guildford, Farnham and Chichester areas.

Insurers will be relieved that the plate glass withstood the hammer blows in this instance, despite it being damaged. No jewellery or other stock was stolen. The claim made on the jewellers insurance would unlikely exceed a few hundred pounds.