Gunmen hold up chemist in armed robbery

Two men one armed with a gun burst into the shop covering their faces at the Ballymacash Road premises at around 5pm.

They demanded money and asked for a quantity of diazepam and temazaepam drugs.

The two made off with cash from the till.

Two men were arrested by police around an hour later at Woodbrook Avenue.

One of the owners of the of the chemist, Alison Rooney said she has been assured by the customer who was struck on the arm that he was fine.

“I have asked him if he was alright and he has assured me that he is fine,” she said.

“Unfortunately, this is the business that we are in, there is always that threat. Thankfully this is the first time in 15 years that this has happened here.

“I know that the staff were left very shocked from the incident. I have tried to reassure them. Unfortunately, I cannot guarantee that this will never happen again.

“We did not have to close as it was the end of the day and we opened up again on Monday morning business as usual.

“What I would like to say is that the amount of support that we have had since the incident has been remarkable. It is nice to feel needed. The amount of calls, the amount of people ringing to find out how we are, has been unreal. I would like to thank them for all the calls and for their concern.

“We just have to move on from this and we will move on from this. Come Monday morning it was just business again as usual.

“There is a reason for us being here and thankfully most people know what that reason is. If anything good has come out of it that is what it is the tremendous support from the community.”

A 30-year-old male appeared at Lisburn Magistrates Court on Monday, April 8, charged with robbery and possession of a firearm. A 24 year old male arrested at the same time was released on conditional bail pending further enquiries.