Moment Tesco raider holds hostages at gunpoint during series of raids in south London shops

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This is the moment an armed robber held Tesco staff hostage at gunpoint during a series of “violent and threatening” raids on south London convenience stores.

Price Dafiaghor, 33, pointed the weapon at workers as he forced them into a back office of the West Norwood store and demanded they open the safe.

Forced to wait 10 minutes for the time-delay to open, Dafiaghor punched a woman to the ground and kicked her repeatedly when she tried to intervene.

He then fled with £4,000 in cash, using a Tesco-branded fleece as a disguise as he left the store, Inner London crown court heard.

In an earlier raid at a Streatham Co-op, a masked Dafiaghor is seen on CCTV footage grabbing a pregnant cashier as he demanded the shop’s takings, telling her: “I’ve got a gun, take the money out”.

Spotted: Dafiaghor hid his gun in a bin (Metropolitan Police )
Metropolitan Police

Dafiaghor struck at the Co-op on September 5 last year, the Tesco on October 24 and carried out a third raid at another Co-op in Norbury on November 29, again threatening staff while brandishing a weapon.

He was caught just after Christmas last year, when police were called to a row in a chicken shop.

Dafiaghor was caught on camera as he slipped away from police officers, who had arrested the wrong man, and hid his gun in a wheelie bin.

Officers quickly recovered the firearm, on which was the robber’s DNA.

Prosecutor Heather Stangoe told jurors Dafiaghor had been linked to all three armed robberies by witnesses who noticed a hole in his Puma trainer. “One of the victims described there being a big hole in the robber’s shoe,” she said.

“The way these robberies were committed was all the same, the description of the robber is the same, the clothing that the robber wears on each occasion is the same.”

The prosecutor said the Tesco raid was almost thwarted by the time-delayed safe but Dafiaghor opted to wait while holding staff hostage.

Dafiaghor, of no fixed address, denied all the charges, insisting it was a case of mistaken identity. He was found guilty of three robberies, three charges of possession of an imitation firearm with intent and one count of possessing a prohibited firearm.

He was acquitted of an attempted robbery and another charge of possession of an imitation firearm with intent and was remanded in custody to be sentenced on October 18.

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