Jewellery stores on the east and west coasts of Australia have been the victims of violent robberies in the last week.
On July 18 a robber armed with a sawn-off shot gun and tyre lever entered the Shiels jewellery store in Spearwood, WA.
He then threatened staff with the gun before smashing a glass display case with the tyre lever and stealing a “quantity of jewellery”.
He also brandished the gun at passers-by in the Phoenix Shopping Centre as he fled from the store.
Detective senior constable Jason Vanderwiel of WA’s Regional Investigations Unit told Perth Now that the man went into the store twice before committing the robbery.
“Both the staff members and a significant number of members of the public have been traumatised,” he said.
“Certainly his intentions to go in there, armed with a sawn-off firearm and then to leave, menacing it, or waving it to members of the public was to menace everyone there.”
Shiels area manager Bernadette Ryan told the newspaper that the two staff members were terrified by the crime.
Meanwhile just two days later, on July 20, three men armed with sledgehammers and chainsaws robbed the Jeff Einstein jewellery store in Sydney’s Double Bay.
According to police, the men broke into the store at around 8am on Friday, stole jewellery from the safe and displays, and then escaped in a stolen white BMW M3.
Police followed the car and arrested the two occupants in a nearby suburb where they also recovered “two bags containing a large amount of jewellery”.
The two men were taken to Maroubra Police Station and charged with the robbery but the third man was not located.
Although neither crime is related they both clearly highlight the fact that despite many advances in security features, jewellery store owners and their staff should always be vigilant.