Armed robber flees Edinburgh shop after staff laugh at him

An armed robber fled a newsagent’s after shopkeepers laughed him out of the premises.

Finlay Crawshaw entered the News Plus Store, on Gorgie Road in Edinburgh, brandishing a large kitchen knife towards two workers and attempted to rob them of their takings.

But instead of handing over the cash, the employees began laughing and told him there was no money in the till.

The 21-year-old thief was then forced to run empty-handed from the convenience store.

CCTV footage from the shop captured the moment Crawshaw came into the store and waved the blade in the face of the men at around 10.30pm on November 27 last year.

He can be heard shouting: “Hey listen, down, down, down bro, down bro – you laughing at me?”

The shop worker looks unfazed and tells him: “We’ve got no money, man.”

Crawshaw responds: “You’ve got no money?”

He then retreats from the shop as the employees continue laughing at him.

Crawshaw then made his way to a nearby takeaway called Chippy Junction where, around 15 minutes later, he brandished the red-handled knife at two employees and robbed them of an unknown sum of cash.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was also told Crawshaw, originally from Bolton, Lancashire, had carried out a similar robbery at the Slateford Express store on November 9 last year.

On that occasion, he entered the shop and demanded cash and cigarettes from the shop assistant before fleeing.

Crawshaw appeared from custody at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on May 28 this year – his 21st birthday – and pled guilty to three assault and robbery charges.

He was remanded in custody and was brought back to the court for sentencing on June 16 where he was jailed for a total of three years.

Sheriff Kenneth Campbell KC also imposed a 12-month supervised release order, under which Crawshaw will be monitored by authorities upon his release.

Previously, fiscal depute Corey Laouadi told the court that Crawshaw carried out the first armed robbery at the Slateford Express store around 6.05am on November 9 last year.

He entered the shop with his face covered and waving the knife and shouted “give me all the money” before reaching over the counter and taking cash and cigarettes.

The assistant managed to press the panic alarm and Crawshaw fled.

The fiscal said the second and third robberies took place 18 days later between 10.30pm and 10.45pm on the evening of November 27.

He was laughed out of the first shop by the two employees before he made his way along Gorgie Road, and he entered the Chippy Junction and again brandished the large knife.

Mr Laouadi said the two staff members were forced to step back from him as he shouted “open the till” at them.

Crawshaw then grabbed a handful of notes from the cash register and was last seen running towards the city’s Gorgie Mill Road.

The court was told firearms officers were deployed to the scene in a bid to track the robber down but he wasn’t located and arrested until several days later.

Following both incidents, police received intelligence and raided two properties in Edinburgh, where they discovered and seized the large kitchen knife used in the attacks.