Utterly Nutley Window Cleaner Admits Bank Siege

Armed robber admits siege at Ashford Barclays Bank: A convicted robber & unemployed window cleaner has pleaded guilty to holding terrified staff and customers hostage and making bomb threats at a bank in Surrey. Unemployed Matthew Nutley, 36, told people at Barclays in Ashford he would "blow their heads off" if they did not obey him during the robbery on 28 June. Wielding a large gun, he told hostages he was carrying a bomb which would explode if he let go of the trigger. Nutley, of Brookside Avenue, Ashford, admitted six charges on Friday. Following the hearing at Guildford Crown Court, Surrey Police said the hostages feared for their lives during their ordeal. The court heard Nutley walked into the bank in Church Road shortly before 1600 BST and forced the bank manager to lock the front doors. A staff member was ordered to spray the windows with black paint to prevent police from seeing inside and a customer was given cable ties and ordered to tie other people up. The robber, who was wearing a white paper boiler suit and a mask, handed similar paper suits to up to 16 people inside.

He later told police it was his intention to leave with these hostages so armed officers would not know who to shoot at. Surrey Police dispatched armed response units, cordoned off Church Road and evacuated nearby shops and businesses. During discussions with hostage negotiators, Nutley demanded £800,000 in cash and asked for a helicopter to be made ready for his escape, police said. Several hostages were allowed to leave until only three remained inside. Nutley, who was drinking heavily, also threatened to cut off the fingers and ears of the remaining hostages with a kitchen knife. The three eventually managed to escape while his back was turned and moments later, Nutley was talked into giving himself up three hours after the siege began. Police later discovered the gun was an imitation and the bomb was a homemade hoax made of copper piping and wires bound together with electrical tape.

Nutley, who had a previous conviction for robbery at an off-licence in 2003, pleaded guilty to robbery, false imprisonment, possession of an imitation firearm with intent to commit robbery, two counts of making threats to kill, blackmail, possessing an offensive weapon and making a bomb hoax. He was remanded in custody for await sentence on 19 November. Det Supt Alan Sharp said: "We were dealing with the possibility of a very real threat to the lives of the bank staff and customers. "This was an incredibly traumatic experience for those inside the bank who just minutes before had simply been going about their daily business. "Whilst the gun and the bomb Nutley was carrying ultimately turned out to be fakes, to his hostages the threats he was making were very real. "His behaviour was aggressive and volatile and they genuinely feared for their lives."

Original breaking news story here.

Drunk Window Cleaner Holds Up Bank - Takes Hostages, Not Clients

Bank hostage drama - Window Cleaner 'held up cashiers with toy gun and fake bomb and took 15 hostages': The man accused of taking 15 people hostage in a three-hour bank siege held them up with a toy gun and a fake bomb, a court heard today. Matthew Nutley, 36, is alleged to have stormed into the bank brandishing a children's plastic Nerf gun which fires harmless sponge balls and foam darts. The alleged raider, who was also said to be carrying a six inch kitchen knife, fooled terrified staff into handing over cash, claiming that a fake explosive device he had made with rubbish was a real bomb, it was claimed.



Today the suspect appeared in court for the first time to face eight charges of false imprisonment, possession of an imitation firearm and an offensive weapon, blackmail, making a bomb hoax and threats to kill. Prosecutors told Staines Magistrates Court that the man had threatened to shoot bank manager Jonathan Hall and customer Daniel Beedell with the toy gun, which had been spray painted black. He also told police and bank staff that he had planted a bomb in Barclays Bank in Ashford, near Heathrow, magistrates heard.



Yesterday the accused shuffled into court flanked by two prison guards. Nutley, who was wearing a hooded Harlequins Rugby Club sweater, spoke only to confirm his name and address, telling magistrates that he could not hear proceedings because he was deaf in one ear. He showed no emotion as the eight charges relating to the dramatic siege were read to him.

Swarms of armed officers, police helicopters, fire engines and ambulances were called to the bank at 4pm on Monday following reports that a man had entered the building with a gun. The Royal Logistics Bomb Disposal team was also scrambled and surrounding buildings were evacuated amid fears that he had planted a bomb. For hours trained hostage negotiators were locked in talks with the armed raider who appeared to be drunk. Hostages have told how the robber tried to ply them with vodka and forced them to don boiler suits in a bid to confuse police.

After three hours, the masked raider wearing a boiler suit and welding goggles, freed the hostages and surrendered to armed police. None of the hostages were injured in the siege, which has been compared to Spike Lee's hit crime thriller, Inside Man. In the film Dalton Russell, played by British actor Clive Owen leads a gang into a New York bank in painters overalls. They force their hostages to don identical overalls and hide out amongst them when police storm the building to evade capture.



Today it emerged that Nutley worked as a volunteer fundraiser for the charity to help wounded members of the armed forces, Help the Heroes. Neighbours said the window cleaner claimed to have raised hundreds of pounds for the charity and was often seen around his home in Ashford driving a van with the words 'Help for Heroes' on the side. Yesterday his mother Ann refused to comment at her home in Ashford. Nutley was remanded into custody. He will face trial at Guildford Crown Court on September 1 this year.



With the bank in Ashford, Middlesex, sealed, the gunman produced more boiler suits and told the hostages to put them on. He handed out cans of paint and told everyone to spray the windows so nobody could see inside. Their hands were then bound with cable ties. Within minutes the building was surrounded by armed cops. Josh Williams, 20, said: "We heard police cars screeching down the road. The cops jumped out with their guns and got behind their cars." A helicopter circled as a negotiator was brought in. Ten hostages were released. But it was not until 7pm that the gunman emerged - calmly smoking a cigarette. He was cuffed and bundled into a police van. Police said nobody was hurt.

Window Cleaner Finds Bomb + Other News

Window Cleaner finds bomb: A father-of-two posed for photographs unaware he was holding a live Second World War anti-tank grenade after digging it up in his back garden. Paul Davies, 32, found the undetonated bomb and thought it was part of an old lawn mower or machine. He took it into his house, where his friend used a camera phone to take a picture of him joking and holding the eight-inch device. Mr Davies, a window cleaner, then placed it near his sink next to some washing up where it sat for more than two hours.
But later in the morning he had a 'bad feeling' and after checking the internet, he realised the rusty lump of metal was an anti-tank grenade. He threw it into his back garden and called police, who evacuated 12 nearby homes and summoned bomb disposal experts. They set up a 100 metre exclusion zone around the house before taking the bomb - which was still live - to a nearby field to blow it up. Mr Davies, of Exeter, Devon, said: 'I couldn't believe what was happening. I dug this thing up and it looked like a part of some old machine. 'I took it inside so I could show the kids when they came home from school and my mate took a photo of me for a laugh and I put it down the side. 'A bit later on I suddenly thought it might be dangerous and had a look on the internet. I said "I think it's a bomb".
'I can't believe I had it in my hand and was posing for a picture. The bomb team told me it was still live.' A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said the anti-tank grenade was detonated by experts at 12.50pm on Friday. He said: 'The bomb disposal team took it away and blew it up. We visited homeowners and asked them to leave their houses to retreat behind a cordon. Twelve properties were affected.'
Mr Davies added: 'It wasn't buried that deep in the earth. I've asked around and apparently the guy who used to live here years ago had an air raid shelter. 'It must have been buried then. I'm glad I didn't hit it with my spade when I dug it up - it could have been kaboom.'

Insurance fraud continues to rocket in 2009: Southampton, United Kingdom - A gentleman claimed for damage caused when he was cleaning a window, fell backwards over a rocking horse and falling into a display cabinet and grandfather clock – twice! He claimed with two different insurers but was caught out.

But men are the ones taking home most of the money earned. Since the start of the year, approximately 6,848 Jamaican workers have gained employment in the US and Canada through overseas programmes offered by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. Approximately 4,848 persons departed Jamaica between January to August under various employment programmes in Canada. According to the MLSS, the farm work programme continued to attract much interest with 4,721 persons leaving the island to work on farms up to the end of August. Other workers have been engaged in mushroom harvesting, window cleaning, construction activities, tree planting, seafood packing, the fast food industry and the hydroponics sector.

WHAT I DO: José Garza, high-rise window cleaner pictured above washing windows at 345 California St., 700 feet above the sidewalk in San Francisco." José Garza has worked 28 years as a window cleaner. Hundreds of feet above the city streets, in fog and cold and heat, he descends the face of commercial towers in a motorized rig that's alternately called a stage, a platform, a trolley or a scaffold. Garza, 51, has worked the last 22 years for Lewis & Taylor, a San Francisco building maintenance contractor, and for 10 years was president of Local 44, the window washer's union. He moved from Guadalajara, Mexico, to the Bay Area in 1973 and lives in Vacaville with his wife, Eunicia, a laundry presser. They have three children.
The first time I got on the scaffold I was more excited than scared, actually. 'Cause I really wanted to start this job. Even today when I step over the ledge, every time, I feel the little butterflies in my stomach. It's normal for a window cleaner, I guess. But it's just for a minute. You get in the scaffold and you start working and you forget all about it. We do office buildings, hotels, apartment buildings, sometimes houses. I'd say 80 percent of the jobs are high-rises in San Francisco. The tallest building I work on, 345 California St., is 48 stories.
I've seen a lot of things over the last 28 years. A naked woman. People making love. Sometimes they don't care. They just close the drapes or something. But some of them get mad and call security. And when I'm cleaning the window I just pretend like I'm not looking at anything. There's always two of us in the scaffold. It takes about four, five minutes to do a window, then we lower down to the next floor. When you get to the bottom you go back up to the roof, move the scaffolding over and then go down floor-by-floor again. We've been using biodegradable soaps the last 10, 15 years. It's just like dishwashing soap. You put it in the water, a little but not so much that it makes lots of suds. You squish the window with a squeegee and then you wipe off the frame with a sponge so the next window below doesn't have any drips.
Cloudy weather is the best for cleaning windows. When the sun is out the water dries real fast and you leave a lot of streaks on the window. If it's too windy you can't work. It's a safety hazard.
The cold isn't really a problem in San Francisco: Water freezes at 32 degrees and it's only happened once in 28 years that I was working and the water turned to ice. What I like best about the job is, we start early and we get off early. At 6 in the morning sometimes, we're already hanging. Usually by 12 or 1 p.m. you can't work because of the wind, especially in San Francisco.
I leave my house at 4 or 4:30. You have to be careful how much you drink before work - you're on the scaffold two hours without a break - so I have one cup of coffee driving in to work. And then right before I start working I try to go to the restroom. Sometimes you have conversations with other window washers working across the street. Years ago I was the union representative, so I know all the window cleaners. We see each other sometimes, and if I have their number, I call them and say, "Hey, let's go down below for lunch." Do I wash windows at home? Not much, but I do.

POLICE were not to blame for the death of a 27-year-old father-of-three who died after crashing into a lamppost while being chased, a watchdog has ruled. Frank Drury died at Leighton Hospital shortly after the 600cc Suzuki bike he was riding collided with a street light on Northwich Road, Weaverham, at around 3am on July 13 last year. “Suspicious” officers had been trying to stop Mr Drury, a window cleaner who lived at Caldy Way in Winsford, so the case was referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. The police car travelled at speeds of up to 100mph but never got close enough to the motorcycle to tell Mr Drury they wanted him to stop. Eye witnesses said the vehicle arrived on the scene several seconds after the collision. It transpired Mr Drury did not have a valid driving licence and was not insured. Ms Naseem Malik, IPCC commissioner for the North West, said: “The officers in this incident acted appropriately in deciding to try to stop the motorcycle. They had suspicions which needed to be investigated and subsequently proved well founded. “The officers cannot be held in any way accountable for the collision. This was as a result of the motorcycle being driven at high speed and the driver losing control.” She added: “We will never know whether Mr Drury knew the police car was trying to catch up with him and whether this influenced his driving.”

A man has hit-out after being taken to court – for having a water-fight with his step-son. Murray Kerr, 37, was charged with the alleged ill-treatment of 12-year-old Jordan Cairns after two neighbours saw him pouring water over the lad outside his Edinburgh home. And despite Jordan’s mum Suzanne Young insisting he had done nothing wrong, officials banned him from seeing the boy for six months until the case ended yesterday with a not proven decision. Police had charged him with wilful ill-treatment after two neighbours – Patricia Ann, 47, and Kerry Ann Thomson, 28, – complained that they had seen the boy become upset during what Mr Kerr insisted was a game. The mother and daughter said the boy was “hysterical and crying” after Mr Kerr threw two buckets of water over him. It later emerged the witnesses never actually reported the incident to police until a week later.
Defence lawyer Eddie Wilson said: “If these witnesses had been so alarmed and so concerned by these things, would not any reasonable person have reported that to the police immediately.” Sheriff Fiona Reith QC said she was not satisfied Mr Kerr had done anything wrong. She said: “I do not think there was sufficient evidence to support that Mr Kerr did lock the boy on the balcony. “In all the circumstances I’m not satisfied that the Crown have proven the charge beyond reasonable doubt.” Following his acquittal the shocked out-of-work window cleaner blasted the decision to prosecute him in the first place. And he claims that the neighbours were simply targeting him over other fall-outs. Mr Kerr said: “I’m delighted at being cleared. “But it was a waste of tax-payers’ money dragging me through the court system for a water fight.

Professional services - Jack's Maintenance Service, a Neenah professional cleaning services company, has acquired Brite-Way Services of Greater Wisconsin, a Mosinee high- and mid-rise window cleaning company. Cornerstone Business Services, Green Bay, brokered the sale.

Free Window Cleaning - Cockenzie Power Station, Scottish Power, East Lothian: The existing facility had been due to close in 2015 but now, operator Scottish Power is expected to apply for permission to replace the plant with a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power station. The move has angered community representatives who fear many locals are in the dark about the plans. Information pamphlets being distributed by the group say census results indicate that cancer and cardiovascular illness rates in the area are above the national average, while local doctors surgeries report high rates of lung problems. Councillors say there have been complaints about excessive noise levels, while residents who live closest to the station can request courtesy car and window washing because of high levels of air pollution.

THEFT in Meltham, Sept 8. Suspect in vehicle seen to steal window cleaner’s ladder which was left unattended near to his vehicle. Suspect driving white Transit van T56TNA.

My Island Mallorca, Gets Bombed

Comment: Its not often I stray from window cleaning news. But today was purely strange. I consider myself lucky passing by todays car bomb only 15 minutes before & then working round the corner 400 meters away. I didn't hear the explosion - maybe due to shop noise, but nether the less the news traveled quickly. It was only a matter of time before the Islands emergency crews & police were on hand to try & apprehend the perpetrators of today's bombing. Sadly, it was very easy for me to leave the area a half hour after the blast, I saw & heard after they were blocking roads on motorways & the port & airport were frozen in movement. A little too late, the way this island normally operates. You have to feel sorry for the 2 Guardia Civil policemen & their families, one of them from Burgos where yesterdays explosion occurred & the other from Pamplona where recently he'd just recovered from a coma. This "Sun" news story says it all: -

Stranded British tourists told of their terror today after a bomb killed two cops in the heart of a Spanish holiday hotspot. A schoolboy reeled in shock after seeing the charred remains of an officer being dragged from a blazing patrol car. And others told how the force of the blast — which rocked a police station at lunchtime — shook them from their sunbeds in Majorca's crowded Palma Nova resort. This afternoon the island — where an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 Brits are staying — was closed off amid fears of another blast.
Roads, ports and the airport were shut and large areas of the town remained on "lockdown" as Spanish police feared further devices may target tourists. Palma Airport was said to be on high alert as searches continued for more terrorist bombs. Brit Maureen Mitchell — on holiday with her partner Peter Van Dijk, 50, and his sons Mitchell, 11, and Cameron, nine — spoke of her shock. The foreign exchange sales consultant Maureen, of Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, said: "We were sat around the pool enjoying the sunshine and suddenly there was a massive bang - a really huge explosion. "We all raced over to see what it was and we saw the black clouds of smoke coming from the police station. "Everyone was panicking because it was so terrifying. "Peter´s elder son Mitchell ran over and saw a charred body with no legs being pulled from the burnt out wreck of the car."
The 34-year-old added: "Children were crying hysterically. Then we were all ordered back into our apartments. "We are right at the Magaluf end of Palmanova here, and there are thousands of Brits on holiday. "Mitchell's still shaken up by what he saw - it's the last thing you'd expect in a resort like this." Company director Derek Sedge, 51, was relaxing on a sun lounger just 50 yards from the blast when the bomb detonated. He said: "The was an absolutely enormous bang that almost shook me off my sunbed. "The noise was hug and I knew pretty quickly that it was a bomb. "When I got to the Guardia Civil station the car was well alight and engulfed in flames and black smoke. "I could see anyone inside for the smoke but knew right away that anyone in that car wouldn't have stood a chance. "There are British families all over this resort and it's appalling to think a bomb went off among so many people. "Many more than two could have died and it's left a lot of tourist very shocked and concerned about more attacks. "The police have sealed off the whole area and its understandably quite tense."
The blast erupted at 1.50pm outside the Civil Guard station in Palma Nova, near the brash Magaluf loved by thousands of Brits. The blast was heard throughout the area, sending tourists running from bars and beaches. Bombers are believed to have targeted a green and white police car parked close to the Guardia station. The police driver of the car was believed to have been killed instantly by the blast with a colleague who was close by. The police barracks is situated around 50 yards from the Playa Ca´s Saboners holiday apartments, where Maureen was staying. A member of staff there said: "All the guests have been ordered to stay in their rooms while police check the area for more bombs. "We are full at the moment and the vast majority of our guests are British." A spokeswoman for the Civil Guard said: "At the moment all we can confirm is that there has been an explosion outside the police station." Spanish media immediately linked the bomb to Basque terrorist group ETA. The explosion happened a day after Eta blew up a Civil Guard barracks in the northern Spanish city of Burgos, injuring 60 people. Eta have killed more than 850 people since it was founded in the 1960s.