FAULKNER’S Newsagency fell victim to an armed robbery on Sunday.
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Shop owner, John Faulkner, arrived to open the newsagency at 5.20am when he noticed a regular customer hanging around the front door.
“I did the normal thing and opened the store at about 5.25am and he asked me if he could come in and buy some smokes. Because I knew him I said yes and we went into the shop,” he said.
As Mr Faulkner turned to reach the smokes, the 32-year-old man pulled out a knife and requested money from the till.
“It had everything to do with drugs. Supposedly after he left the shop he had time to go and buy drugs and return home before the police got him,” Mr Faulkner said.
As police arrived, Mr Faulkner assisted them with the man’s identity and his place of residence.
“I’ve known him for most of his life, he only lives around the corner,” he said.
A short time later, police attended a residence in Warialda Street and arrested the man.
“I said to the police as soon as they arrived that the problem was drugs. The town needs to be cleaned from drugs because it’s getting worse and worse.
The man was charged with armed robbery and refused bail to appear before Moree Local Court today.
The incident wasn’t the first for the Faulkner family and their newsagency.
In 2013 Isobel Faulkner was standing behind the front counter serving about 10am when she saw a ute parked out the front.
Mrs Faulkner recognised the ute was owned by a regular customer who had already visited the shop that day but didn’t know it had been stolen.
“There were three guys who came rushing into the shop with hoodies and their faces covered. One of them had a knife and stood at the front counter facing me while the other two made their way behind the counter and stole the cash draw,” she said in August.