Dance shop the target for ‘repeat robberies’ - Police link 2007 raid on Dancia International with latest attack

A DANCE clothing shop in Covent Garden is being targeted by an armed robber, police have said.

Detectives investigating  an armed robbery at Dancia International in Drury Lane have linked the incident to a similar attack four years earlier.

During the robbery which took place in broad daylight, a man wearing a latex mask disguising him as an old man burst into the shop and threatened the female employees with a handgun.

The man, who was also wearing a white builder’s helmet, a reflective jacket and see-through plastic gloves, demanded the till be opened telling employees: “I will cut you if you don't.” One employee was punched in the head and sustained minor injuries during the incident on April 30.

Flying squad detectives have revealed the shop was the target of a robbery in May 2007 – and they are formally linking the attacks.

They have reissued CCTV images of the suspect as he fled down a passageway connecting Drury Lane to Shelton Street in the hope of tracing him.

Investigating officer Detective Sergeant Mark O’Shaughnessy of Finchley Flying Squad said: “The suspect has been very clearly caught on camera and will most definitely be recognisable to someone. I am urging people who might know him or have knowledge of his whereabouts to contact me.”

Anyone with information is urged to call 020 8358 1751 or Crime­stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

PUBLISHED: 08 July 2011
by JOSIE HINTON