Northampton bank employee conspired with two thugs to rob elderly man of £38,000

An employee of a Northampton Santander was among three people who conspired together to rob an elderly man of £38,000 as he left the bank.

A statement released by Northamptonshire Police, said Soraya Parsi, 26, of Grange Park, Northampton, worked at the branch in Market Square, Northampton, when a man in his 60s made arrangements to collect £38,000 from the bank.

“Due to procedure and the large amount of money he was requesting, 48 hours’ notice was required, so the man informed the bank on September 26, 2017, that two days later he would be in to collect the money,” the spokesperson said

“Armed with this knowledge, Parsi set the wheels in motion to rob the man and working with Terrence Brown, aged 26, previously of Northampton, and Carl Townsend, aged 39, also previously of Northampton, a plan was formed.

“At about 3pm on September 28, 2017, the victim made his way to the bank where Parsi was working that day. He collected the money and as he left, unbeknown to him, Townsend began to follow him,” the spokesperson said.

“Then, in Guildhall Road, Townsend robbed him, assaulting him and running off with the £38,000. Brown was the getaway driver and quickly picked up Townsend so they could make an escape,” the statement said.

“An investigation was launched and all three were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit robbery. Townsend pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2017. Parsi and Brown both pleaded not guilty but were convicted by a jury after a two-week trial in March and will both be sentenced on May 18 this year.”

Detective Sergeant Karl Curtis, said: “This has been a very complex case to investigate and piece together, involving the analysis of phone calls and cell site data, the review of hours of CCTV footage and speaking to multiple witnesses.

“I am so pleased therefore that it has concluded with all three people recognised as being guilty of this shocking crime.

“This plan was calculated and purely driven by greed. All three should feel utterly ashamed of themselves but none more so than Soraya Parsi who abused her position as an employee of the bank to facilitate the attack and robbery of a man in his 60s.

“I would like to commend everyone involved in this investigation for their hard work and diligence every step of the way. As a result, three people are now behind bars, paying for their crimes.”

Editor's note: "An earlier version of this article stated that Carl Townsend had been jailed for seven years for conspiracy to commit robbery and may have implied this had happened in March this year. This was based on information published and supplied by Northamptonshire Police. We have since been informed that Carl Townsend was, in fact, sentenced in 2017.”