Career criminal wearing fake beard sprayed terrified Post Office workers with ammonia
23.05.2022 - 16:57
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Three Post Office workers were sprayed with ammonia during a terrifying robbery. Career criminal Daniel Burtak, 35, from Bolton, held up a branch on Abbey Street, Accrington, wearing a fake beard and scarf armed with a Fairy Liquid bottle containing the dangerous chemical.
He sprayed the three employees in the face as he emptied the safe and tills to make off with £15,000 before meeting up with getaway driver Colin Naylor, 51, outside a nearby pub, a court heard. As he left the building, he turned back to squirt more ammonia at one of his helpless victims.
The pair appeared to plan a second robbery at another Post Office branch in the town but their suspicious activity caught the attention of two witnesses, a judge was told. The pair denied any involvement, but were found guilty after trial. They returned for a sentencing hearing at Burnley Crown Court on Friday.
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The judge, however, said she needed further information and would pass sentence this Thursday, reports Lancashire Live. Burtak was jailed for eight years in 2019 after a violent robbery at a jewellery shop in Carlisle. The court heard then he was jailed in 2007 for his role in the armed smash-and-grab robbery of a Bolton jewellery store, and locked up again in 2016 for helping to burgle a food wholesaler in Penrith.
Peter Gilmour, prosecuting, said that the Accrington robbery took place on May 10, 2019, and that CCTV showed Naylor's pickup truck driving in the area around 4.30pm. Around 50 minutes later, cameras showed Burtak arrive at the post office riding on a bike and wearing the bizarre disguise.
During the raid, three post office staff were sprayed in the face