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| 'Skull Cracker' link to Sunbury building society raid probed | 'Skull Cracker' link to Sunbury building society raid probed |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A fugitive armed robber nicknamed the "Skull Cracker" may have struck again, with police investigating whether he is linked to a new raid. | A fugitive armed robber nicknamed the "Skull Cracker" may have struck again, with police investigating whether he is linked to a new raid. |
| A Chelsea Building Society branch in Sunbury-on-Thames, was robbed by a man with a handgun, Surrey police said. | |
| The armed raid took place at about 10:20 BST on The Parade, Staines Road. | The armed raid took place at about 10:20 BST on The Parade, Staines Road. |
| Michael Wheatley, 55, absconded from an open prison in Kent on Saturday. He was given 13 life sentences in 2002 for raids on banks and building societies. | Michael Wheatley, 55, absconded from an open prison in Kent on Saturday. He was given 13 life sentences in 2002 for raids on banks and building societies. |
| "We are carrying out numerous inquiries to identify the offender and have linked in with Kent Police as part of these inquiries," a spokesman for Surrey Police said. | "We are carrying out numerous inquiries to identify the offender and have linked in with Kent Police as part of these inquiries," a spokesman for Surrey Police said. |
| According to Kent Police, there was a possible sighting of Wheatley in Twickenham, south-west London, on Monday. | According to Kent Police, there was a possible sighting of Wheatley in Twickenham, south-west London, on Monday. |
| Wheatley has gone on the run twice in the past and each time staged a series of violent robberies before he was caught and re-jailed. | |
| 'Escaped man' | |
| A spokesman for Chelsea Building Society said no-one had been hurt in the attack, but staff were left shaken and upset. | A spokesman for Chelsea Building Society said no-one had been hurt in the attack, but staff were left shaken and upset. |
| Jodie Aston, 30, who works in a hair and beauty salon close to the building society said police officers told her they knew who the suspect was. | |
| She said: "They came in and said the man that robbed the bank was the man that escaped from the open prison and it happened at 10:20am. | |
| "It's quite scary to think we were so close. It could have been in here." | |
| Barmaid Chloe Theobald, 26, learned about the robbery while on a lunch break with her manager. | |
| "The police said to my boss 'We think it's the Skull Cracker and he's been sighted in Sunbury'," she said. | |
| She also received a text message from her daughter's school telling parents that their children should not walk home alone this afternoon. | |
| "It's quite scary," she said. "It's not something that happens every day that there's a man on the loose." | |
| A police cordon has been set up outside the building and several nearby shops. | |
| A Surrey Police spokeswoman said the robber had escaped "with a quantity of cash". | |
| The armed man was described as white, in his late 40s or early 50s, about 6ft tall, slim to medium build, with short grey hair. | |
| He was wearing a dark coloured woolly hat, dark-rimmed glasses, light blue jeans, a light blue denim jacket and black trainers. | |
| He left the premises on foot but may have got into a vehicle, police said. |