Have a go heroes praised by judge who jailed sledgehammer raiders
Five men have been jailed for their roles in a terrifying robbery at a Bury St Edmunds jewellers.
Members of the gang used sledgehammers to shatter display cases at Thurlow Champness on February 28 last year and grabbed Rolex watches worth more than £23,000.
Today (Monday) after the men were sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court, Judge David Goodin singled out two members of public for praise for the way they had tackled the robbers.
Michael Graver, 70, who had been out shopping, had grabbed a bag containing the haul and ensured that the robbers fled empty handed while Mark Baker had attempted to block the path of two of the men.
The gang had travelled from the Islington area of London with a hired van used to transport two stolen scooters to Suffolk and which travelled in convoy with two getaway cars which all gathered at a parking area in Long Brackland, Bury.
Half an hour later the two scooters raced up to Thurlow Champness in Abbeygate Street and one was used to batter open the electronically controlled front door, allowing two pillion passengers armed with sledgehammers to get inside.
Staff at the shop and members of the public who witnessed the robbery were left in a state of ‘fear, shock and distress’, the court heard.
The getaway cars had been parked in Tayfen Road and were used by gang members to return to London where they were arrested over the next five months.
Dean Armstrong, 21, of HMP Norwich; Charlie Kavanagh, 21, of Western Way, London; George Paget, 20, of Roden Street, London, and Jed McDonald, 22, of Molyneux Avenue, Bovingdon, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery. Dwayne Marsh, 34, of Dewey Road, Islington, had been found guilty of the same offence following a trial earlier this year.
The court heard that Armstrong, of and Paget, had also pleaded guilty to the same offence in connection with an almost identical raid at Goldsmiths in Tavern Street, Ipswich in June last year.
Judge Goodin jailed Marsh, Kavanagh and McDonald each for six years and Armstrong and Paget each for a total of nine years. See Friday’s Bury Free Press for the full story.
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Weather for Bury St Edmunds
Wednesday 19 June 2013
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 13 C to 25 C
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