Post Office Robber

Detectives investigating a robbery at a Hove Post Office have today, Thursday 9 December, released an E-fit image of the offender.

At the same time the Post Office have issued a reward offer of up to £25,000 for information leading to arrest and conviction.

At around 9.20am on 3 December a man wearing a balaclava entered the Post Office in Melville Road and threatened members of the public and staff with a handgun and demanded cash. One woman was directly threatened with the gun.

Staff handed more than one thousand pounds and he made off in a black Ford Mondeo LX registration P170 KVP. The car has a white bonnet and is very distinctive. It was abandoned in Norfolk Road, Brighton, a short time after the robbery and the man then continued on foot west along Western Road, Brighton. Police have recovered the car and a gun, which is being tested to confirm if it is connected to the incident.

It is believed the suspect purchased the vehicle in the few days before the robbery on Friday and it previously had legitimate owners from outside the Brighton area.

Police would still like to hear from anyone who saw the car before the robbery in any part of Sussex, whether it was parked or was being driven. It is believed the car may have been parked up or hidden away for at least a week prior to this robbery.

The offender is described as dark skinned, possibly North African, 5'9'' tall, of medium build and clean shaven. He was wearing a dark coloured beanie style hat and a dark coloured jacket and jeans.
was wearing tracksuit bottoms with three white stripes down the side and a dark top with a light-coloured patch/emblem on his upper left arm.

Detective Inspector Lee Horner said: "Two other armed robberies have taken place at the Post Office recently - one on 27 September and one on 4 October - and we believe the same offender committed all three.

"This man has used a very distinctive car, a dark Mondeo with a white bonnet, that he only had for a few days before this incident and he was wearing distinctive striped trousers.

"We hope that the reward offer, together with the publication of the Efit, will jog memories especially of anyone close to him. I urge them to come forward and give us the information so we can out a stop to this man's spree of offending before somebody is hurt."

On Monday 6 December detectives released a CCTV image from inside the Post Office of the offender.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Sussex Police on 0845 60 70 999 quoting Operation Dunham or the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

NOTE: The actual terms of the reward offer are; "up to £25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the robbery at Melville Road Post Office on 3rd December 2010. Payment of the reward is subject to information being received before 6th June 2011 and the validity of any claim will be determined by Post Office Security in conjunction with Sussex Police."