A SECURITY guard who was robbed of £12,500 in a violent street robbery has spoken out over the brutal attack.

Qaiser Mehboob, 30, was struck over the head and robbed of convenience store takings by crooks who lay in wait for him outside his Accrington home.

He was devastated to discover that the thugs had been tipped off about his whereabouts by his colleague and friend Anthony Underdown.

‘Inside man’, Underdown, of The Green, Ribbleton, was this week jailed for 16 months after admitting conspiracy to rob at Preston Crown Court.

His accomplices, Thomas Lynch, 26, of HMP Preston, and Martin McDermott, 25, of Watling Street Road, Preston, are also behind bars for four years and 40 months respectively after pleading guilty to their parts in the robbery.

Qaiser said he was pleased the gang have been jailed but now finds it difficult to trust people.

He said: “I was totally surprised and shocked when I found out that Anthony was the informer.

“He was a good colleague and I was very friendly with him.

“I was totally speechless when I found out.

“When you trust someone and they break your trust you can’t trust anyone else again.”

Cashier Underdown, 27, worked with Qaiser at Qaiser cousin’s Nisa Store, on Miller Road, Preston, for more than two years.

After becoming friendly with Lynch and McDermott, Underdown fed them information about when Qaiser would leave the store to bank money.

And on June 9 last year, Underdown told Lynch and McDermott that the security guard was leaving the shop with £12,500.

When Qaiser returned home he was ambushed by Lynch and McDermott, struck on the back of the head and robbed of the shop takings.

The dad-of-one said he and his family were left shaken by the robbery.

Speaking about the attack, he said: “Someone came and started hitting me.

“I was hit on the head and fell down on the road and had a big injury on my head.

“When I got up they ran away and I managed to remember the number plate and I just kept repeating it loudly so I didn’t forget it. I’m happy they have gone to jail. I think Anthony should have got more but at least he knows what he did now and he has paid.

“I will now try and get back to normal.”