Police welcome armed robbery sentence

Man armed with hammer targeted jewellery store

Police say a five-and-a-half-year sentence for an armed robber will help keep people on the Island safe. 

Thirty-nine-year-old Michael Daniel Bergquist admitted carrying out the robbery in May at RHS Jewellers on Prospect Terrace in Douglas. 

He was armed with a hammer and was hearing a motorbike helmet when he took jewellery worth £25,000 before fleeing on a stolen motorbike. 

Detective Sergeant Darren Richards, who coordinated the investigation, said it had been a difficult case.

DS Richards thanked the public for its help, saying officers were inundated with calls from potential witnesses.

He described the robbery as “calculated and pre-planned” with Bergquist burning clothes used in the crime and destroying potentially incriminating evidence.

The jewellery taken in the robbery hasn’t been recovered.

DS Richards says the crime wasn’t victimless - and it will take time for the staff member involved to get over it – the court heard the incident had a devastating effect on him physically, professionally and financially.