Jail for five caught with cash after armed robbery of security guard outside Walsall pub
Five people caught with cash that was stolen in an armed robbery of a security van officer outside a Walsall pub have been jailed.
A cash box containing more than £6,000 was stolen when the G4S worker was confronted by a masked man holding a gun near the Bell Inn, in Birmingham Road, in April last year.
The bank notes were stained with a red dye that was released when the container was broken open with cutting equipment.
Andrew Fellows, aged 49, Tina Richards, 49, Tyler Friths, 24, Michael Miller, 27, and Dadlin Sutton, 24, admitted handling stolen goods at a previous hearing.
Mr Paul Reid, prosecuting, told Wolverhampton Crown Court that the security officer was collecting money from the public house at midday on April 8 last year when the robberyhappened. He said £2,580 had been found at the home of Fellows and Richards, in Cypress Way, Yew Tree, in Walsall. A black balaclava and a pair of gloves, a saw and screwdriver were also seized.
He added that a Seat, which had been used in the robbery,had been reported stolen by the owner on April 3 and was found inside Fellows' garage.
He said at about 4pm on the day of the armed robbery Sutton was seen in a Ford Focus that pulled up at the home of Fellows and Richards, in Cypress Way, Yew Tree, in Walsall. He went into the property and left minutes later with Miller and Friths. They were arrested a short time later when the Focus, being driven by Miller, was stopped by armed officers. When Sutton was searched detectives found £1,200 of dye-stained cash.
Mr Simon Williams, defending Fellows, told the court: "He is remorseful about these events. It would appear that his strongest mitigation is his guilty plea. I would ask that he be given a community sentence."
Judge Michael Dudley jailed Fellows for 28 months. Richards, Friths, of Sheldon Road, West Bromwich, and Miller, a Birmingham University student, of Copper Close, also West Bromwich, were all jailed for 18 months each.
Serving prisoner, Sutton, of Queen Street, Bilston, was jailed for 13 years in May at the crown court for conspiracy to import and supply cocaine after a separate trial.
He was jailed for nine months for the handling matter to run consecutively.
