Two arrests in hunt for machete and gun-toting Islington robbers

TWO men have been arrested by police investigating a series of robberies by thugs wielding a machete and a sawn-off shotgun.

The men, aged 18 and 21, are linked to 16 robberies across Islington, Hackney and Haringey in which victims have been threatened with deadly weapons and forced to part with cash.

Specialist police officers arrested the pair at a cash point in Stamford Hill yesterday evening (Wednesday) shortly after a person was threatened with a machete in Finsbury Park.

The men were arrested on suspicion of robbery and they remain in police custody pending further enquiries.

Last week the Gazette reported that two men - one carrying a machete - attacked a 39-year-old victim in Highbury Hill, Highbury, on January 20. In that incident they stole �100 in cash, a BlackBerry phone, an iPod and a rucksack containing a laptop.

A police spokesman said: “In each incident, two suspects used threats against their victims, backing these up with the production of a large machete and what appeared to be a sawn-off shotgun in a bag. They forced the victims to hand over their cash point cards and provide their PIN numbers. These would then be used immediately after the offence to withdraw maximum sums of cash from victims’ bank accounts.”