Terrifying moment violent robbers raid Birmingham arcade during crime spree

This is the moment violent thugs attacked members of staff during a string of terrifying armed robberies.

The masked robbers struck shops, a Buzz bingo, arcades and a travel agent during the shocking spree across the West Midlands between November 2022 and last June.

Dramatic footage, first shared by our sister website Birmingham World, shows the brazen group threatening staff with hammers, knives and an axe as they stormed businesses during working hours. They would use violence against workers and even hold them hostage before demanding money and making off with thousands of pounds.

The gang targeted five firms in Birmingham, West Bromwich and Wednesbury before they were eventually caught by police eight months later on July 19 last year. Aaron Day, 36, Liam Bell, 28, Jordell Duquesney, 26, and Richard Gray, 42, all previously admitted conspiracy to rob. Day, of Rowley Regis, Duquesney, of Halesowen, and Bell, of West Bromwich, were each jailed for 14 years at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday 9 January. Gray, from Birmingham city centre, was jailed for 12 years and nine months.

The court was told the gang first struck at around 10.20am on November 20, 2022, at Shipley’s arcade on West Bromwich High Street. Three masked men wielding hammers and knives stormed in, threatening customers and staff and demanding cash from the safes and cash machines.

One member of staff was grabbed by the throat by a gang member and another member of staff had what he thought was a knife pressed into his back. The gang fled with thousands of pounds.

On December 2 that year, three men entered Buzz Bingo in Erdington, Birmingham, again armed with hammers and knives. They threatened staff and customers, rounding them up into one area and demanding they open the safe.

When staff were unable to open the safe, the manager was attacked and the yobs fled in a stolen car with money from a cash machine. On December 20 that year, staff at Cashino in Birmingham city centre were threatened by three armed men who held them hostage inside for an hour. They waited for a safe’s time lock to expire before fleeing with cash in the same stolen car.

In a statement to police after the Cashino robbery, one victim said: “I wake up in the night seeing the male that grabbed me. I've only been out the house on my own three times since the incident and each time was a nightmare. I became really panicky each time I saw someone with a hood up. This has completely taken away my confidence.”

The gang struck again at a Co-op Travel in Wednesbury on April 22 last year, stealing thousands of points and fleeing in a stolen Ford Focus. They then targeted a Cash Converters in Kingstanding, Birmingham, armed with knives and an axe and stole takings on June 9.

Detectives pieced together their movements through witness evidence, CCTV, as well as the movements of mobile phones and cars. Day and Duquesney were arrested at Day’s home. At the time, Duquesney was sat on a large black coat, with a balaclava and gloves stuffed into the sleeve.

Day was sat on a bucket hat containing a balaclava and a pair of gloves. In the living room and hidden behind a radiator were sets of number plates with double sided tape on then.

Detective Constable John Marsh, from West Midlands Police's Major Crime Proactive Unit, said: “This was an appalling series of robberies, with violence used and threatened against people going about their business.

“The CCTV shows how weapons were brandished and people were held hostage and marched around and as the gang stole from businesses around the region. It’s had a lasting impact on these victims, who were left terrified but thankfully not seriously injured. This was a major investigation incorporating a whole host of techniques, which has resulted in these dangerous men being behind bars today.”