A fugitive who threatened pharmacy staff in Belfast with a knife has been detained, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has announced.

The man, whose age and address were not given, had escaped from custody in Dublin and was wanted by Ireland’s police service when he carried out two armed robberies - including one on a pharmacy - in Belfast on Wednesday (February 18) between 5.45pm and just after 6pm, PSNI said.

Cliff McElhinney, owner of Urban Pharmacy on Dublin Road, Belfast, told C+D that the man had visited the pharmacy around midday seeking advice for a “nasty gash on his hand”. The pharmacy team sold the individual some dressings for his injury and advised him to seek medical attention, said Mr McElhinney. There had been nothing “untoward” about the interaction and the man had been “very courteous”, he added.

But the man returned to the pharmacy six hours later when staff had swapped shifts, said Mr McElhinney. He approached the counter with a “random item” he had taken from the shelf and said, “Hello, it’s me again,” Mr McElhinney reported.

A knife to the back

Mr McElhinney’s wife, the pharmacist on duty, went to ring the item through the till. But the man produced a knife and held it to the back of one of the pharmacy’s counter assistants, said Mr McElhinney. The robber demanded that the pharmacist opened the till and gave him the day’s takings. He left the pharmacy once he was given the “very small amount of cash”, said Mr McElhinney.

PSNI said an armed response unit was called to Bedford Street, Belfast after local police officers investigating the robberies identified the man standing outside a "licensed premises" in the area. The suspect “harmed himself” as the armed response unit approached him, and was detained by a Taser, they added.

Mr McElhinney told C+D he was thankful nobody had been hurt during the incident, and that he was “chuffed to bits” with his staff because they had “followed shop procedure to the letter”. “They remained calm. They did no more and no less than they were asked to do,” he said.

Staff were "a little shaken" and had felt "a lot of relief" when they were told the man had been detained by police, Mr McElhinney added.

PSNI urged any witnesses to the incident in the pharmacy or the separate robbery on Howard Street, Belfast to contact detectives by calling 101.

 

Has your pharmacy ever been robbed?

 

We want to hear your views, but please express them in the spirit of a constructive, professional debate. For more information about what this means, please click here to see our community principles and information