Armed robber caught in stolen car is jailed

A fugitive armed robber who was caught with a balaclava and sawn-off shotgun in a stolen car was today starting an indefinite jail sentence after a judge branded him a danger to the public.

Craig Hickinbottom, aged 29, was rammed off the road by surveillance officers who had been tailing him after he fled a bail hostel in Aldridge just days before. He was arrested at gunpoint.

His passenger in the stolen Vauxhall Corsa, convicted armed robber Dean Isitt, fled with a bag containing the shotgun and three live cartridges.

Isitt, who was yesterday jailed for nine years and will serve half, was chased by armed police as he leapt over a fence into the yard of nearby Bromford Iron & Steel in West Bromwich.

He was confronted there by a factory manager, who he threatened to shoot. Isitt then changed his escape route and dropped the bag carrying the lethal weapon.

He was arrested several weeks later by police who shot his tyres out at the Asda Great Bridge.

Fingerprints belonging to Isitt, of Waterfall Lane, Rowley Regis, were found on the bag and a ring stolen in the same Stourbridge raid in which the Corsa was taken was found in his possessions.

A jury convicted the pair of firearms offences and possession of the stolen car and its false plates. Hickinbottom was found guilty of dangerous driving.

Hickinbottom, of no fixed address, has previous convictions for providing a car to armed robbers. He also has convictions for robbery.

In 2006, he escaped from a prison van which was held up by gunman in Redditch, meaning his trial in October was conducted with armed police at the court doors.

Judge Martin Walsh yesterday ordered him to stay behind bars indefinitely, but said he could be released after four-and-half years if no longer deemed a risk. He said: "It's quite clear to me that the vehicle, together with the shotgun and ammunition were to be used for further criminal purposes."

By Crime Correspondent Mike Woods