Former Headhunter Used Fake Bomb to Rob Bank in Park Royal
Bruno Felix-Navalha aimed to steal money to pay off debts
Bruno Felix-Navalha. Picture: Facebook
December 28, 2023
A 40-year-old man from Park Royal has been convicted after attempting to rob his local branch of NatWest using a fake bomb.
Bruno Felix-Navalha had previously worked as a headhunter finding legal staff for oil and gas companies. His firm, The Big Bee Search, claimed to have worked from some of the biggest international companies and law firms.
However, when he found himself struggling to pay off debts of over £60,000, he travelled the short distance from his home on Newark Crescent to the bank on Abbey Road with a Tupperware box containing a fake bomb at 9.15am on 28 July. Inside the food container was a black box with wires coming out of it. There were five people in the branch including two staff and three customers.
Wearing a hood, reflective sunglasses and a face mask, he showed the device to counter staff and pressed an A4 sheet of paper against the counter window which said, “Put the money in the bag, I have a bomb.” He handed over a rucksack for bank staff to fill with cash telling a bank employee that there was another bomb timed to go off in 20 minutes and that she should wait that long to call the police.
Felix-Navalha made off with £5,000 driving away in his own car, a silver Ford C-Max but the panic alarm at the bank had already been pressed and police were aware of what had happened.
He was tracked from the scene to his home using CCTV but armed police waited until he went out to walk his dog before making an arrest.
When questioned by police said he had given most of the money to a man called Tahir and had used more to pay £230 in outstanding parking fines to Ealing Council.
Bruno Felix-Navalha. Picture: Met Police
Felix-Navalha pleaded guilty to robbery and a bomb hoax at Isleworth Crown Court last month and was imprisoned for five years and three months on Thursday 21 December at the same court.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |