Gang behind 'blood chilling' dawn robberies facing jail
They were a series of 'blood chilling' dawn robberies carried out by a professional band of criminals. During their eight-week campaign of terror they raided seven convenience stores which saw staff threatened, tied up and even beaten as they made off with a haul of cash, cigarettes and scratch cards worth £84,000.
But today Graham Aulton, 33, of High Street, Wednesfield, Stewart Ferguson 35, of Talbot Lane, Bilston, Alan Britton, 40, of Duke Street, Wolverhampton, and Craig Osmund-Smith, 41, of Valley Road, Dudley, are beginning life behind bars after being given hefty prison sentences.
The group planned and executed the string of raids on shops across the Black Country, Staffordshire and Shropshire during the summer.
Masked and bearing weapons they sprung on vulnerable shop workers as they opened up during the early hours.
Each followed the same pattern which saw cash registers and cigarette counters the prime target.
The seven stores hit were Tesco Express in Codsall; Tesco Express in Willenhall Road, Wolverhampton; Spar in Wombourne; the Co-op in Penkridge; Sainsbury's Local in Gornal; One Stop in Ashmore Park, Wolverhampton; and Spar in Bayston Hill, Shrewsbury.
Police arrested Osmund-Smith, Aulton, and Ferguson on November 5 last year as the trio arrived at the Sainsbury's Local in Wordsley in a BMW at 5am.
Aulton in the driver's seat tried to speed off but crashed into an unmarked police car.
The first attack in Codsall on September 9 saw an axe and a wrench wielded with threats made to workers that they would be 'cut up', Stafford Crown Court heard yesterday.
And the second raid at Tesco in Willenhall Road, Wolverhampton, saw two members of staff handcuffed to a metal rail as the robbers plundered the store.
And it was these handcuffs - which originally belonged to a custody officer - that would prove to be a vital clue for detectives in tracking down the gang as they had been left in the boot of the prison worker's stolen orange Ford Focus which was later used in some of the robberies.
While the car was never recovered, its alloy wheels and tyres were found in the downstairs toilet at the home of Aulton who was described as taking on a 'leading role' by His Honour Judge Michael Fowler.
The raid in Shrewsbury on October 16 saw a staff member kicked in the face while the robbery in Ashmore Park saw the manager's BMW stolen which three of the gang were later arrested in.
The trauma of the robbery at Spar, Windmill Bank, Wombourne, resulted in one male staff member later having a heart attack. He is now recovering well.
Mobile telephone records showed the group would exchange messages in the early hours before the raids, shortly after and late at night before the attack.
Aulton was jailed for eight years and nine months after admitting conspiracy to commit robbery alongside Britton who received seven years and seven months imprisonment and Osmund-Smith who was sent down for six years and nine months.
Ferguson denied the charge but was unanimously found guilty yesterday by a jury.
He was jailed for eight years and nine months.
Sentencing Judge Fowler said: "It is a significant factor of the robberies that the robbers where masked wearing dark clothing, balaclavas and gloves. Masks were often made with the legs of a pair of tights knotted and eye holes cut out. A scary prospect.
"On occasion weapons were taken and threats made that would have been blood chilling. There was intimidation by urgency."
He added: "There was total disregard for the feelings and wellbeing of those who were in the stores when the robberies took place demonstrated graphically by CCTV.
"It takes little imagination to think of the kind of shock and fear there must have been when someone opens a back door of premises expecting to take in the papers and milk but to find it pushed open and confronted by masked dark clothed robbers."
Detective Superintendent Paul Clews said: "The sentence is a culmination of some excellent partnership work across the West Midlands region.
"Whilst Staffordshire detectives have worked tirelessly to present an overwhelming case to the court, the support they received leading up to the arrests was an excellent reflection of the partnership between our Forces, the Regional Organised Crime Unit and the newly formed National Crime Agency.
"Criminals such as these are not always in the forefront of the public gaze, but the crimes they commit cause significant harm and fear so it is always satisfying for the teams to play their part in making the region a safer place to live.
"Most importantly, I hope the result brings some form of relief to the numerous victims of these shocking and terrifying crimes that the offenders have been brought to justice.
"These victims are hard-working shop workers going about their daily business and it is they and the wider community who suffer when organised criminals believe they will be immune from prosecution.
"Whilst criminals will continue to cross boundaries to commit crime, Staffordshire Police will continue to work closely with colleagues from across the region and National Government agencies to target those serious and organised criminals harming our communities, wherever they live."
