THREE men have appeared in court charged with committing four robberies where hammers were used to threaten staff.

Dale Banks, Syed Abbas and Nils Hansen, all from Stevenage, attended Hatfield Magistrates’ Court on Saturday after being charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

It follows robberies at two bookmakers and two newsagents where men in masks wiedling hammers – and in one instance a samurai sword – threatened staff before making off with cash.

The incidents took place at Coral bookmakers in Stevenage High Street on February 3, The Crown pub in Long Lane, Aston End, two days later, Ladbrokes in Sandy High Street on March 11 and the One Stop shop in Broadwater Crescent, Stevenage, on March 20.

Banks, 23, of York Road, Syed Abbas, 21, of Guildford Close, and Hansen, 23, of Mead Close, have been remanded in custody for a plea and case management hearing at Cambridge Crown Court on April 8.