Gunman's threat to bank hostages: 'I've lost my house... you're going to lose your money'
By Rebecca Camber, Ryan Kisiel and Colin Fernandez
MailOnline, 30th June 2010
The armed robber who took 15 people hostage in a bank shouted 'I've lost a house, you're going to lose your money', it was alleged yesterday.
Wielding an imitation shotgun, the man named locally as Matthew Nutley, 36, is said to have threatened to kill two terrified members of staff if the bank manager didn't open the safe.
Last night the home of Nutley's 63-year-old mother Ann was searched by police with sniffer dogs.
Don't move: Police officer point Tasers at a suspect in a white boiler suit as the siege comes to an end yesterday evening
Cuffed: The suspect has his hands handcuffed behind his back as he smokes a cigarette outside the bank
Yesterday hostages told how the robber, who triggered a three-hour siege at a Barclays branch in Ashford near Heathrow, then bizarrely plied them with vodka.
Dressed in a boiler suit and wearing welding goggles, the masked raider staggered into the bank clutching a fake gun and a Tesco bag containing two litres of vodka, cigarettes and a batch of boiler suits.
Slurring his words, he is said to have ordered the bank manager to empty the safe, shouting: 'I've lost a house, you're going to lose your money.'
Hostage: Dan Beedell spoke of the surreal scenes inside the bank standoff, where the robber was yelling abuse one minute and sharing vodka the next
In a scene reminiscent of the Clive Owen movie Inside Man, he allegedly put a gun to the head of one of his prisoners, threatening to shoot if they did not don boiler suits to confuse police.
The gunman also forced staff to spray paint the windows black as armed police surrounded the building, it was claimed.
But once the bank manager had handed over a bag of cash, the robber appeared to relax and tried to get his hostages to drink vodka with him.
Unsteady on his feet, it was claimed he also offered his prisoners cigarettes, saying he wanted them to be 'calm and relaxed' even though they had their hands bound with plastic ties.
Hostage Dan Beedell, 31, who works as a youth pastor in Ashford, said: 'I can only assume that he was very angry with the bank for some reason. He came in and was very demanding and assertive. He shouted "everyone get down on the f****** ground".
'He was carrying a Tesco black recyclable bag that had the boiler suits in and two litre bottles of Absolut vodka. Four boiler suitswere dropped on to the floor and he asked four of us to put them on.
'I'm quite a big guy and was struggling to get them above my shoulders. He then put the gun to the back of my head and I was able to do it but not zip it up.
'I asked if I could use Sellotape... to close it and he agreed.
'He then told us to drink from the bottles of vodka but people were worried that they were poisoned because the seals had been broken.
'People didn't drink from them in the end and he quickly forgot about it. It was quite clear that he had a lot to drink as he was stumbling and slurring some of his words.
Police stand outside a bank in Ashford, West of London, after a gunman attempted to rob the bank released his hostages and gave himself up
Plan: Hostages were told to put on similar boiler suits by the would-be bank robber
British army bomb disposal experts looks on near a bank in Ashford, West of London, after a gunman attempted to rob the bank
'It was really frightening as the man was out of control, but it wasn't until much later that it all hit home how dangerous it was.'
Twenty minutes into the siege, the raider freed some hostages, including Mr Beedell and a woman suffering from a panic attack.
Police pounced on Mr Beedell, thinking he was the gunman.
After a tense three-hour standoff, the robber finally surrendered.
Freed: Hostages being released from the bank late yesterday afternoon
Policeman blocks the road near a bank in Ashford, West of London, after a gunman attempted to rob the bank
Still clutching a smouldering cigarette, he was led out of the bank with guns trained on him. A replica firearm was recovered at the scene.
Last night police had only just begun to question the man who was apparently so intoxicated that he was not considered fit for interview for almost 20 hours.
The man went into Barclays in Church Road, Ashford, Middlesex, shortly before 4pm, according to Surrey Police
Employees at a coffee shop nearby described the man as a loner. 'He would come in each day and order exactly the same thing - a large hot chocolate with cream,' a member of staff said. 'He would sit there for three orfour hours surfing the internet on a laptop. Sometimes he would sit outside smoking a cigarette.'
A Surrey Police spokesman said: 'A man in his 30s has been arrested and is still in police custody.'
A spokesman for Barclays said: 'This matter is under police investigation, so we are unable to offer any further comment.'
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