Crossword Genius

Man, British, with hesitation meeting Southern bandits (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

robbers

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'bandits' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?

'man british with hesitation meeting southern' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'man' could be 'robb' and 'robb' is found within the answer.
'hesitation' could be 'er' (sound made while hesitating - um, er) and 'er' is present in the answer.
'southern' could be 's' (abbreviation) and 's' is found in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for robbers that I've seen before include "Violent thieves" , "Thieves and burglars" , "Thieves who threaten violence" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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