Freed robber turned to smuggling drugs

A serial criminal who robbed six frightened teenagers at knifepoint in the Black Country was freed to start smuggling drugs after his arrest, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

Oliver Bell was given police bail while waiting for the case to be dealt with and promptly caught a flight to the Caribbean.

The 29-year-old was arrested again weeks later while trying to board a plane back to England from Trinidad and Tobago when officials discovered he was carrying a "significant" amount of cocaine, Miss Heidi Kubik, prosecuting, told the court.

He was locked up and sentenced to three years' hard labour by Caribbean authorities at that stage.

But the decision to release him in the first place was questioned by a judge when Bell finally faced justice in this country. Bell, of Wood Norton Road, Rowley Regis, was yesterday jailed for a further four years and eight months for the crime spree in Halesowen.

Judge Robin Onions said: "I am surprised that he was bailed after being charged with the robberies, especially since his previous convictions included two for failing to surrender and breaches of court orders."

Bell was in a gang of three who robbed a group of 15-year-old boys of four phones worth almost £800 at a recreation ground in Hurst Green, Halesowen. Bell had warned the teenagers "Let go of the mobiles or I will stab you", Miss Kubik said.

The victims were grabbed round the neck and ordered to empty their pockets in the robbery, in May 2009. Father-of-two Bell and another man then robbed a 17-year-old youth and girl aged 16 of a mobile, handbag and two gold chains in Leasowes Park, Halesowen, about three weeks later.

The youth noted the number of a blue Citroen Saxo parked nearby which matched a vehicle seen at the location of the earlier offence and turned out to belong to Bell's girlfriend.

He was arrested the next day and found to be in possession of one of the stolen mobiles, said Miss Kubik. None of the other stolen property was recovered.

Mr Jonathan Challinor, defending, said Bell found hard labour "horrendous".

Bell admitted the six robberies. He had been returned to the UK to complete his Caribbean sentence in this country this year in an exchange programme.