Harrow Crime

A 72-year-old pensioner has been robbed of £500 in a charity shop in Harrow.

The incident took place on Monday, November 5 in the Oxfam shop on Burnt Oak Broadway between 11.20am and 12pm, after the man had just withdrawn the money from the Abbey Bank on the same street.

Once the inside the shop two people drew attention to a stain on the back of the man’s jacket, which was red in colour and had a chemical smell.

After helping to clean it off, it was pointed out that his blazer was also stained. He took this off, and after helping to clean it, the two people then left. After putting the blazer on again, the man discovered his wallet was gone.

The suspects are described as an Eastern European couple; the male was around 5’ 6” and dressed in dark clothing. The female was around 5’ 2’’ and dressed in black clothing.

Police are appealing for information on 02084231212.

www.met.police.uk/harrow

Self Reflective Essay

This story came about through a visit to the Harrow borough police headquarters. I accompanied a fellow reporter to a press briefing whilst on work experience at the Harrow Observer newspaper.

We were briefed on recently reported crimes in the local area by Will Goddard, the press officer for the Harrow police service, and this piece was the one I found the most interesting of all the reported events.

I thought the fact that an elderly local gentleman was robbed of such a large sum of money which he had only just withdrawn was a very emotive and unfortunate. I also thought it was the type of story which the public in Harrow could help the police with.

The attack with the red chemical paint seemed to be premeditated and left a distinctive trait. It was possible that another local resident may have found similar staining on a garment or may have seen the couple described and their memory would be jogged.

The news writing sessions we had done focusing on crime reporting helped me tighten up the piece through the use of active language and making the facts of the incident prominent so that local people would be able to aid the police in their enquiries.

It was a short story but it was quite a complex series of events, which required me to write a clear, linear explanation of what had happened to the elderly man.