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| 'Skullcracker' back in custody after police raid in east London | 'Skullcracker' back in custody after police raid in east London |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A fugitive armed robber, known as the Skullcracker, has been caught after going on the run for the third time. | A fugitive armed robber, known as the Skullcracker, has been caught after going on the run for the third time. |
| Michael Wheatley, 55, went missing when he was released on a temporary licence from an open prison in Kent on Saturday, and police were investigating whether he had robbed a building society in Surrey on Wednesday. | Michael Wheatley, 55, went missing when he was released on a temporary licence from an open prison in Kent on Saturday, and police were investigating whether he had robbed a building society in Surrey on Wednesday. |
| The force said that at 2pm Wheatley and another man, aged 53, were arrested in the Tower Hamlets area of east London and are in police custody. | |
| DCI Ann Lisseman, from Kent police, said: "We are no longer looking for Michael Wheatley. We would like to thank our colleagues at Metropolitan police service, Surrey police and the public for their assistance with our inquiries." | |
| Wheatley went on the run after failing to return from temporary release over the bank holiday weekend to an open prison in Kent | Wheatley went on the run after failing to return from temporary release over the bank holiday weekend to an open prison in Kent |
| Armed officers attended after a branch of the Chelsea building society in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, was robbed shortly after opening on Wednesday morning. | |
| Detectives from three forces are involved in an investigation into whether Wheatley, who was given 13 life sentences in 2002 for armed robberies at 13 building societies, was responsible. | Detectives from three forces are involved in an investigation into whether Wheatley, who was given 13 life sentences in 2002 for armed robberies at 13 building societies, was responsible. |
| A spokesman for Surrey police said: "At 10.20am … Surrey police responded to reports of an armed robbery at a building society in Sunbury. "The investigation is in its early stages. We are carrying out numerous inquiries to identify the offender and have linked in with Kent police as part of these inquiries. | |
| "Anyone with information or who witnessed the incident and has not already spoken to police should call 101." | "Anyone with information or who witnessed the incident and has not already spoken to police should call 101." |
| A spokesperson for Chelsea said: "We can confirm there was a robbery at our Sunbury branch this morning. We are helping the police with their inquiries. Nobody was hurt in the incident but staff were understandably shaken and upset. The branch remains closed currently and we hope to reopen as soon as possible." | A spokesperson for Chelsea said: "We can confirm there was a robbery at our Sunbury branch this morning. We are helping the police with their inquiries. Nobody was hurt in the incident but staff were understandably shaken and upset. The branch remains closed currently and we hope to reopen as soon as possible." |
| Wheatley was sentenced at the Old Bailey in 2002, and ordered to serve a minimum of eight years before being eligible for consideration for parole. He was released last weekend on a temporary licence from HMP Standford Hill open prison on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, and is thought to have boarded the 9.20am train from Sittingbourne to Stratford International station. | |
| Police were called when he failed to return to the prison at 6pm and a specialist team of officers, headed by Lisseman, pieced together a timeline of his movements since his disappearance. | Police were called when he failed to return to the prison at 6pm and a specialist team of officers, headed by Lisseman, pieced together a timeline of his movements since his disappearance. |
| There was a confirmed sighting of Wheatley at 7.55pm on Monday in the Strawberry Hill area of Twickenham, and several homes were searched. Kent police said Wheatley, who got his nickname after pistol-whipping victims, including a 73-year-old woman, has connections in Ireland, Cheshire and north Wales. | |
| Earlier, Sir David Calvert-Smith, chair of the parole board, which carries out risk assessments on prisoners to determine whether they can be safely released into the community, defended the decision to allow Wheatley out on day release. | |
| "I think putting all prisoners in open conditions is an essential step to their integration. Otherwise, we as a society simply have to put up with paying for their accommodation in prison for the rest of their lives," he told BBC Breakfast. "There has got to be a system which manages the transition from prison to the outside world." | "I think putting all prisoners in open conditions is an essential step to their integration. Otherwise, we as a society simply have to put up with paying for their accommodation in prison for the rest of their lives," he told BBC Breakfast. "There has got to be a system which manages the transition from prison to the outside world." |