Three individuals have pleaded not guilty to accusations of using CS spray to target women in a robbery at Heathrow Airport, which resulted in over 20 individuals requiring medical attention. Tyrone Richards, aged 31, Anton Clarke-Butcher, aged 24, and Omoneke Whyte, aged 30, are said to have taken two suitcases from separate women by using the harmful spray on them. They face charges of robbery, administering a noxious substance, and affray following the incident on December 7 of the previous year.
The Metropolitan Police reported that several individuals, including five who were hospitalized but later released, were affected by the substance post-attack. Ambulance teams treated 21 people, including a three-year-old child, who were exposed to the noxious spray in a parking facility at Terminal 3 of the airport.
CS spray, a synthetic chemical utilized by UK police to temporarily disable individuals, was the substance used in the robbery. The trio is scheduled to stand trial at Isleworth Crown Court on June 29.
Richards and Clarke-Butcher had previously appeared in Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court where they confirmed their personal details. During that appearance, prosecutor Rene De Silva presented identical information for each defendant, indicating that they were apprehended for their involvement in the Heathrow Airport incident. De Silva mentioned that the defendants, in collaboration with others, employed CS spray to carry out the suitcase robbery, which was suspected to be linked to a gang.
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