Gang admits to raids on Co-Op stores
Four men admitted their role in robberies at South Staffordshire and Black Country stores after a dramatic roof top arrest.
The masked armed gang left staff terrified at eight shops in a four month spree which saw them snatch cigarettes, spirits, cash and other goods.
They were stopped as two were caught trying to grab cash and up to £10,000 worth of cigarettes from a Co-Op shop in Overfield Road, Russells Hall, Dudley, as it prepared to open on September 22. Police found 22-year-old Jake Williams on the roof and Andrew Scanlon, 23, at the back of the store.
Anthony Everitt, 35, and Stuart Plant, 24, were arrested soon after.
The breakthrough came as detectives investigated 26 robberies on convenience stores and all-night garages in which up to £50,000 worth of cigarettes and about £20,000 was stolen.
At Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday Williams of Meldon Drive, Everitt, of Wallace Road and Plant of Daley Road, all Bradley, Bilston, admitted conspiring with others to commit robberies between May 22 and September 23.
Scanlon, 23, of Oak Road, Tipton admitted a single robbery charge at the Overfield Road Co-op. All four defendants were remanded in custody for sentence on May 7.
Judge Nicholas Webb called for a pre-sentence report for the hearing on Scanlon.
