High-profile Harrogate crimes reconstructed on BBC’s Crimewatch Roadshow

On Monday, June 8, the show featured CCTV footage and reconstructions of both the aggravated burglary in Pannal and the armed raid of Montpellier Antiques.

The show then appealed for information about a flasher who has exposed himself to women on numerous occasions over the last eight years on its Tuesday programme.

Footage of the daring daylight attack on Montpellier Antiques on Monday, March 16 was broadcast by Crimewatch with a couple who were caught in the robbery interviewed.

Kenny and Julie Fuller had travelled to Harrogate for a job interview and were selling cufflinks at the jewellery store when the attack took place.

“I had put the cufflinks on the desk and was writing out my name and details when Julie shouted something,” Kenny told Crimewatch.

“I looked up and they were just looking at me. There was some commotion at the door and I saw men with balaclavas and one with a sledgehammer.”

Despite the best efforts of Kenny and the shopkeepers, all described as aged between 70-80, the burglars broke into the store and began smashing the glass cabinets to snatch watches and jewellery.

Kenny said: “I grabbed Julie and pushed her into the corner. It almost seemed like it wasn’t happening, glass was flying everywhere.

“Just minutes after breaking in they piled into the getaway car. It went really quiet so we all got up at the same time and it was a scene of utter devastation.”

As a result of the crime, one of the shopworkers suffered severe chest pains and spent a week in hospital. One man has been convicted for the crime but police are still searching for four more suspects.

Mark and Alison Murphy were the victims of a terrifying aggravated burglary on February 6. Alison told Crimewatch the couple were relaxing after dinner when a rock was thrown through their conservatory window.

She said: “It sounded like an explosion. It was so loud I thought the rood was caving in. The three of them were dressed in black with their faces covered.

“I just saw one of them with a great big knife and the other two had crowbars and I just thought they’re going to kill us.”

While two of the men attacked Mark, the third went for Alison’s wedding ring before dragging them upstairs and taking a box of jewellery.

The robbers then took Mark’s watch which he had bought with his mother’s inheritance money before leaving with Alison’s cash from her handbag.

She said: “I would have been terrified if they found my son asleep in the next room, I dread to think what happened. It’s the scariest thing that’s happened in my life.”

Police have also launched a fresh appeal to find a flasher who exposed himself to two girls on December 31, 2014 in the Stray.

On Tuesday, June 9, Crimewatch featured a reconstruction of the sexual offence and one of the girls involved, named as ‘Sarah’, was left disgusted as the man performed an indecent act.

She said: “We were in shock, horrified because it’s not a normal thing to do.”

The incident is the 28th reported in the past seven years with police confirming they may be searching for more than one offender.