Godalming armed robbery - CCTV

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• published: 20 Feb 2015
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A man who used a hammer in an armed robbery at a computer shop in Godalming has been jailed for three and a half years. Charlie Veck was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court today (Friday 20 February) having earlier pleaded guilty to armed robbery. The offence happened at 11.20am on Friday 19 December when Veck went into Disking Computers International in High Street and threatened staff with a hammer before leaving with £123 in cash. The 30-year-old of Greenfields Avenue, Alton, Hampshire spent five minutes in the shop looking at items on sale and waited for others to leave before committing the crime. He approached the member of staff who was behind a counter and threatened to assault him at the same time as waving the hammer in front of his face. He also smashed the counter top while demanding money. Investigating officer Detective Constable Lawrence Burden said: “This was a terrifying incident for the member of the staff who was left extremely shaken as a result. “Thankfully the shop has excellent CCTV footage which captured the whole incident and allowed us to identify Veck clearly as the person responsible. The quality of the footage played a key part in us solving this case and is a clear reminder that shops should take their security measures seriously. “We will simply not tolerate such brazen and callous attacks in our community. I hope this sentence is of reassurance to the public and shop keepers that we do take their concerns seriously and will act to take prolific offenders like Veck off the streets.” Veck also asked for two further offences to be taken into consideration. They include the theft of a purse in Waitrose car park in Farnham on December 23, and the attempted theft of a games console from a shop in Woolmead Road, Farnham on December 15.