Armed Halloween mask robbers jailed for over a decade after terrorising Northfleet and Hartley shops
Two masked robbers who struck a Northfleet newsagent and a Hartley post office in 2017 have been locked up for more than ten years. Anthony Sweetman and Ben Medhurst admitted their crimes and were sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday 8 June.
Masked gang terrorise shops with knives, gun and axe
On 16 September 2017, Sweetman and Medhurst stormed a newsagent on Dene Holm Road, Northfleet, wearing Halloween masks and threatening staff with knives. They forced the terrified workers to hand over £200 from the till. The entire heist was caught on the shop’s CCTV.
Just days later, on 19 September, Sweetman, 33, drove his black Mazda to Hartley with 41-year-old Medhurst as passenger. They parked in Stack Lane and barged into the nearby post office on Ash Road, this time wearing full-face masks. One wielded a small handgun, the other an axe. They threatened to shoot the staff and demanded cash. An employee handed over £894, but when told there was no more money, the pair fled. CCTV again captured the chilling raid.
Their getaway car was later abandoned in Gorsewood, Hartley.
Detectives hunt down villains using CCTV and DNA
Kent and Essex Serious Crime detectives swooped quickly. Sweetman was arrested on 21 September, and Medhurst on 17 October after a police search at his home. Investigators traced the black Mazda’s online purchase by Sweetman on 22 August. Officers spotted him in the car multiple times, and CCTV from a Gravesend supermarket even showed both men in the vehicle following an altercation with staff.
On the day of the post office robbery, CCTV showed the Mazda with the two men at a Northfleet petrol station and near Stack Lane just before the raid. Forensic bits clinched the case after Sweetman’s DNA was found in the abandoned car.
Harsh sentences handed down in Woolwich crown court
Sweetman, from Waterdales, Northfleet, was sentenced to a whopping 15 years and 10 months. Medhurst, from Burch Road, Gravesend, got 11 years behind bars.
Detective Inspector James Derham said: “This was a horrific ordeal for staff at both premises who should be able to go about their daily business without suffering at the hands of these criminals. Sweetman and Medhurst showed no regard for the effect their actions would have on members of the public and should be ashamed of their actions.
I would like to thank the witnesses and victims who have assisted my officers throughout the investigation and have helped us bring these criminals to justice.”
