CCTV footage captures moments before £28,000 gunpoint robbery

A Northumbria Police investigation is ongoing following a gunpoint robbery outside an Asda store in the region at around 2.10pm on Saturday (December 2). The two offenders arrived at the supermarket on High Row, Kenton, on a motorbike before one of them dismounted and threatened a G4S security guard with a suspected firearm.They demanded he hand over the secure case containing an estimated £28,000 before they fled on the motorbike in the direction of the B&Q at the end of Scotswood Road.Later that day the motorbike was found abandoned and set on fire on a field commonly used by dog walkers near Lockhaugh Farm, Rowlands Gill. It was later discovered to have been stolen.Inquiries to identify and arrest the two people responsible are ongoing and now police have released CCTV showing the moment the offenders carried out a recce of the area.Detective Chief Inspector Paul Knox said: "We have been carrying out extensive inquiries into this robbery in the past week and the net is now closing in on these offenders."Our detectives have been reviewing CCTV, going house-to-house and carrying out forensic enquiries where appropriate."However we still need help from the public to piece together the movements of this motorbike and of those individuals involved in the robbery."The CCTV footage in question clearly shows the offenders carrying out a recce of the site at about 2.02pm which is just minutes before the robbery."We want to speak to anyone who saw the motorcycle in Lemington around that time, around Newcastle earlier that day or in Rowlands Gill where it was eventually found burnt out."Any piece of information, no matter how small, could be the last piece of the jigsaw that helps us to identify the individuals involved."The motorcycle in question is described as a red Yamaha XJ6. It had been stolen from an address in Slatyford around six months earlier.Detective Chief Inspector Knox said extra patrols had taken place in the area and reiterated that incidents of this nature were very rare.He added: "Incidents of this nature are very rare and I want to reiterate that we do not have a problem with firearms."We still have to establish whether the weapon used in the robbery was even a viable weapon but our priority is to first identify those involved."This is being treated as an isolated incident and we have had a number of extra patrols in place to reassure the public and deter any further incidents."

Anyone with information should contact Northumbria Police on 101 quoting incident number 617 01/12/17. You can also contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.