Decoy in West Bromwich jewellery raids jailed

Steven Griffiths, 36, of Tippity Green, Rowley Regis, acted as a decoy for a group of three armed robbers who hit SK Jewellers, on High Street, on December 31, 2016, before targeting Jai Jewellers on February 10 this year.

Griffiths pleaded guilty at Wolverhampton Crown Court to robbery in relation to SK Jewellers, as well as pleading guilty to attempted robbery in relation to Jai Jewellers.

On each occasion, he gained access to the shops by dressing smartly and requesting access via a buzzer.

At SK Jewellers, he held the security door open while three men armed with hammers and axes followed, smashing glass cabinets and taking £240,000 worth of jewellery before the panic alarm was triggered, filling the room with smoke as the gang escaped.

On February 10, they tried to do the same at Jai Jewellers, however the plan was scuppered due to the shop having two security doors.

While Griffiths held the second open, the first closed, meaning the armed robbers, none of whom have been caught, had to try attempted breaking through the door.

While they tried to do this, Griffiths was pushed by the shops owner into a gap between the two doors, before being locked into that space while a get-away car collected the others.

He remained there until police arrived, when he was arrested.

David Bennett, prosecuting, said: "Both the robbery at SK Jewellers and the attempted robbery at Jai Jewellers were co-ordinated, professional efforts that caused serious damage both financially and psychologically to the owners of the shops.

"The defendant was not armed in either instance but he clearly had a part to play.

"Both shops are small, family run businesses and there were children present on each occasion.

"A 12 year old member of the family was present at SK Jewellers, while a one year old child was with a customer at Jai Jewellers."

Defence solicitor Lewis Perry said that Griffiths had a long standing problem with heroin which he had managed to get over before he began using the drug again in the months prior to the first robbery.

He said: "In no way do I seek to remove blame from the defendant, he is completely aware of the damage this has caused.

"However, he was not armed and he is the only person to have been arrested in relation to this.

"The others may never be caught.

"He had gone back to using heroin a few months prior to the robbery at SK Jewellers and the others would have known that they were taking advantage of a man who was under the influence of heroin."

Judge John Wait sentenced Griffiths to 10 years concurrently for each offence on the basis that they were linked, despite the different charges.

He said: "When a man chooses to take part in crimes that are this serious, his personal situation tends to become less important.

"You have a long criminal history, with 84 offences to your name and you know how serious what you did in this case was."