Man forced to hand over Lm5,000

A 55-year-old employee of wines and spirits merchants Charles Grech Co. was forced to hand over Lm5,000 to two armed men in A. Cuschieri Street, Birkirkara, yesterday.

The police said the employee, from Qormi, was driving a Fiat Punto van at around noon when a white Ford Escort van pulled up and blocked his way, forcing him to stop.

The two men got out of the Escort and threatened the employee, the police said. The robbers, who were hooded and armed with a pistol and a wooden object, snatched the bag from the employee and drove off at speed.

No one was injured.

The Escort was found abandoned in Vivion Street, Sta Venera, minutes after the robbery.

Magistrate Antonio Mizzi appointed a team of court experts to help with the inquiry.

The police are investigating.