He was waiting at a red traffic light at the intersection of Albany Highway and Austin Avenue when a white Mercedes van rear-ended his Subaru, a man jumping straight out of the van to apologise. "He said to me 'sorry mate, I was on the phone and I've hit you' and he said 'we better go around the corner and swap notes for the insurance companies', which I thought was an obvious thing to do," Mr Lathwell said. But as soon as Mr Lathwell parked around the corner and got out of his car, a second man jumped out of the van and joined the driver grabbing the 81-year-old. "I thought 'what the hell is going on' and they said 'we know you have a gun shop and we're going to rob it'," he said. The men handcuffed and cable-tied Mr Lathwell and put a dirty hood over his head, duct-taped around his head to prevent him from seeing, before throwing him inside the van.

"They said 'we're going to kill you and do you in unless you give us the access codes to get into your shop because we want your handguns', I thought 'I'm done'," he said. Loading After Mr Lathwell gave the men the access code to the front door and the shop's first vault the men disappeared inside the store, but came back a few minutes later after they couldn't find the handguns. After hitting Mr Lathwell's leg with an iron bar, they dragged the 81-year-old out of the van and inside the shop, where they ripped his blindfold off and forced him to open the store's main vault. Then, as the men briefly walked out of the shop, Mr Lathwell seized the opportunity to lock the access door and raise the alarm with police.

"I wanted to get that door locked and I locked them out because I thought they would come back and get more guns and everything and do me in," he said. "It was very frightening, I can tell you." WA Police Commissioner, Chris Dawson, claimed the group stole 100 handguns, 30 long arm firearms, air pistols and 40 calibre shotguns to be distributed among bikie gangs and serious organised crime drug traffickers. Mr Lathwell said the haul was extremely valuable, with handguns selling for up to $10,000 each on the black market. The van is believed to be a Mercedes Sprinter or similar. Credit:WA Police

The 81-year-old who had the store broken into two years ago, said he had spent significant amounts of money on security since, but never expected something like this to happen in Australia. "I didn't expect to come out of it alive, I can tell you that," he said. "It wasn't a very nice experience." Mr Lathwell no longer feels comfortable being alone, since the group also stole his wallet, containing several cards which listed his home address. However, he is determined to continue trading.

"What can you do? It's just a sign of the times, the type of people we're dealing with out there," he said. "I'm definitely going to keep trading. "I really wish they'll get hold of the mongrels." The van is believed to be a Mercedes Sprinter or similar, with registration ‘PH 10279’. The number plates were stolen from a vehicle earlier in the day, and it is likely they are no longer on the van. WA Police are seeking for anyone with information about the crash or who can identify the men, who speak a foreign language, to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report it online.

Members of the public can also provide footage of the van using this link to upload it to WA Police.