Police believe that one group may have been responsible for armed raids on three pubs across Staffordshire on Tuesday last week.
Offenders climbed through the first floor window at the Fox & Anchor in Brewood, Coven, at around 7.25pm and stole a car stereo, CDs, a silver Sekonda watch, an X-Box, and a pair of trainers. A member of staff disturbed one of the group, who was holding what is described as a shotgun.
The second attack, at around 7.40pm at the Old Mitre in Essington, saw the raiders enter via the roof and flee after being disturbed a strategy that was also used at the Minerva Inn at Essington. In this third attack, the licensee and her son were threatened with knives and possibly a gun. The raiders fled with cash and two mobile phones.
Two of the offenders have variously been described as black, aged 16 and 19, 5ft 5in or 5ft 8in tall, and of slight or slim build. One was wearing a navy blue hooded top. Another youth aged about 17, is white and of medium build with mousey hair and around 5ft 8in tall.
Police say a blue Ford transit van, or similar vehicle, with ladders on the roof was seen in the area at the time. Anyone with information is asked to call DS Paul Bentley on 01785 218844.
Masked gang in armed pub robbery
A man was hit over the head with the handle of a gun during an armed robbery at a Greater Manchester pub on Sunday.
Police said four or five men wearing balaclavas burst into the Plough on Rainsough Brow in Prestwick at closing time and stole cash from the till and property from customers.
At least one of the men was carrying a handgun and another had a knife. A 50-year-old man was struck by the handle of the gun and was treated in hospital for minor head injuries.
The men fled in a brown Honda, which was later found abandoned on Parsons Field off Britannia Road in Pendleton.
Woman kicked host and hit policeman
A woman who admitted assaulting a licensee in his pub has been given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay him £75 compensation.
Audrey Webb, 55, of Hebdon Walk, Windmore, Leeds, attacked David Jones of the London Inn in Torquay on 16 March, Newton Abbot Magistrates Court heard last week. Webb also admitted assaulting policeman Peter Apps in the incident.
The court heard that Webb's partner was asked to leave the pub for aggressive behaviour. Webb, who was in the toilet at the time, hit PC Apps when the officer pushed her partner after he refused to calm down. Webb also kicked Jones in the back, causing bruising.
Alison Frazer, defending, said Webb was perplexed when she left the toilet and could not find her partner. She said Webb was of good character and had no previous convictions.
Drink-spiker jailed for seven months
A man who spiked a woman's drink while they were at a Nottingham pub with her mother has been jailed for seven months.
Simon Wilson, 38, of Cranwell Road, Strelley, admitted supplying amphetamine to the 20-year-old woman without her consent or knowledge.
Nottingham Crown Court heard last week that Wilson and the woman went to the unnamed venue in April 2004 with her mother and other family members, where Wilson bought hera drink.
Bar staff noticed that Wilson was behaving "strangely" and "seemed to put his finger in the drink".
CCTV caught Wilson putting a small plastic bag in his pocket. The woman drank the drink, with no apparent effect, but a barman told her mother that something had been put in the drink.
Tests later showed the woman had amphetamine and paracetamol in her.
Balraj Bhatia, defending, said there was "no sinister purpose" and that it was "just to give her an extra buzz".
But Judge Michael Pert said: "It was a despicable thing to do. Anyone is entitled to drink in any pub in this land without the fear of their drink being spiked."