Schoolboys in court over shop raid terror

TWO youths have appeared in court charged with attempted robbery in connection with a raid on a Failsworth off-licence.

CCTV cameras captured three masked offenders repeatedly demanding money and attacking a staff member at Raja off-licence in Hardman Lane on February 23, at 9.30pm.

Three youths were arrested on Tuesday after the Oldham Evening Chronicle published images of the attack.

A 14-year-old boy from Shaw and a 16-year-old boy from Moston appeared at Oldham Magistrates’ Court yesterday, wearing their school uniforms, where they were granted conditional bail and the case adjourned until tomorrow at Oldham Youth Court.

They cannot be named for legal reasons.

A 16-year-old boy has been released without charge.

CCTV showed a shopworker being battered with a wooden pole during the raid.

It was the second robbery at the store in three weeks but this time staff refused to let the robbers get away with any cash.

Shop owner Mohammed Sheikh, who had been attacked with a machete in the previous raid and has been robbed five times in total, pressed a panic button to close the shop’s shutters but the offenders escaped through a back door.

The injured shopworker had to have stitches after suffering swelling and cuts to the top of his head and inside his mouth.