Panic ensued in North Finchley after a manic armed robbery in a local jewellery shop ended in a member of staff being stabbed.
On Wednesday the 21st, at around 1pm, my friends and I were walking along the high street to grab some lunch when suddenly; an eruption of screams echoed throughout the tunnel of shops followed by several panic-stricken people running out of the tunnel. Puzzled onlookers tried to find the source of the terror when an anxious man emerged from the crowd holding a large carving knife. He ran across the road, ignoring the oncoming traffic, and in our direction. Absolute horror spread inside me but this quickly turned into alarm and my body sprang into action, running away. The knife-carrier ran in front of us and down Nether Street, a side road in which my school is situated.
We were all fairly shaken up but we decided to brave the tunnel of shops and see the aftermath of the event just taken place. It was only when we saw the jewellery shop with smashed glass and the alarm blaring did we put together the pieces of the event.
After returning from Greggs (still being relatively speechless), we saw an array of police and ambulance vehicles lined outside the tunnel.
My friend, Olivia Warford was walking down Nether Street at the time of the incident and witnessed the robber run into hiding. She told me what she recalled “I was walking to the bus stop by myself opposite the school and this guy ran past me, going through a woman’s purse with a bloody knife poking out of his bag. He was walking really fast until he broke into a run.”
After talking to several witnesses that day, I found out that the man had broken into the jewellery store, threatened the staff, failed to grab any jewellery but grabbed a woman’s purse and stabbed the man shielding the woman – who then smashed a mirror over his head.
The man was arrested later that day and was faced with multiple charges including “two counts of grievous bodily harm with intent” and he awaits trial on the 19th November at Harrow Crown Court. The robber turned out to be Joshua Packman, a man who is classified as mentally ill and in 2015, “absconded from Chase Farm Hospital”.
Fortunately there were no fatal injuries however the effects of the vicious attack have left some witnesses unable to walk down the now ominous tunnel.
