Man Charged With Attempted Robbery

A man has been charged in connection with a double attempted bank raid.

Al-Fodday Fofanah, 30, has been charged with attempted robbery at Santander and Barclays banks in the Borough area of London.

He is also charged with two counts of possession of an imitation firearm with intent to commit robbery.

Witnesses described yesterday how a man was seen with an AK47-style weapon sprinting through Borough before he was apprehended by members of the public.

Darren Burn,  who was in the pub at the time of the incident, said:

"I was having a quiet drink with my uncle and a friend when we heard tyres screech then saw a man with a gun.

"Bank security were shouting - they were telling us the man had a gun and we needed to get down.

"There were about 40 people in the pub courtyard at the time. It wasn't terrifying at the time, it all seemed a bit surreal.

"There were no screams, everyone just fell silent because it was a bizarre situation."

A Metropolitan Police spokesman, who described members of the public who detained the man as "brave", said no shots were fired and no members of the public were injured.

Officers said the attempted raid at the Santander Bank on Walworth Road was carried out on July 18, while the Barclays incident took place shortly before 2pm yesterday.