A man has appeared in court following a string of armed robberies and attempted robberies from travel agency branches across the country.
At Hull Crown Court, Haik Madoyan, 43, formerly of Yerevan, in Armenia, denies four charges of robbery, four charges of attempted robbery and eight charges of possession of a firearm at a string of gun raids around the UK.
The charges relate to robberies and attempted robberies at, Co-Op Travel in Worcester, on June 19, 2006, First Choice in Grimsby on May 30, 2006, Going Places in Cardiff on July 27, 2006, Thomson Travel, in Newport Wales on the same day, Thomson Travel in Scunthorpe, on December 8, 2007 and three other travel agencies in Weymouth, Bath and Darlington.
First Choice travel consultant Vicky Ward told the court how a gunman left the Grimsby bureau de change empty-handed – unaware a colleague was planning to actually give him the cash he had demanded.
Giving evidence as part of the trial, she said a colleague was about to give the man money, but he had left after seeing Ward burst in to tears and instinctively hide behind a metal safe in the agency branch, the Grimsby Telegraph reported.
The trial continues.