'Inept' robbers jailed after One Stop customers helped stop shop raid
Three raiders whose robbery of a store was foiled by courageous customers were starting jail sentences totalling over ten years today.
Stuart Dublin, aged 36 and 51-year-old Carl Cina were masked and armed with an iron bar when they burst into the One Stop shop in Worcester Street, Stourbridge shortly before closing time, a judge heard.
They ordered frightened staff to open the till and grabbed £662 cash while filling a bin bag with £75 worth of cigarettes as a 10-year-old child and other customers watched in horror, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
Then Pardeep Singh drew up outside the store where get-away driver Delroy Nettleford was sitting behind the wheel of a stolen Volvo.
Mr Singh entered the One Stop, saw the two masked men and told them: 'You are not going anywhere,' explained Mr Rupert Jones, prosecuting who added: "He as upset that a robbery was happening in the area where he lives, especially in front of a child."
Cina had his nose broken and several teeth knocked out while Dublin was left with permanent ear damage by a punch to the head as two other customers, Julian Hodges and William Croft, helped Mr Singh detain the robbers until police arrived after 53-year-old Nettleford had driven off. He was stopped and arrested by officers soon afterwards.
The three robbers, who had been drinking and taking drugs before raiding the store at 10pm on September 1 last year, were all serial criminals. Cina had previous convictions involving 177 separate offences while those of Dublin totalled 50 and Nettleford 49. Neither Cina nor Dublin complained about the injuries they suffered at the hands of the have-a-go heroes.
The defendants were also involved in the theft of £27 worth of food from a Sainsbury's shop in Wollaston days earlier and Cina was on bail after being caught taking his drugs with him to a prison visit.
Miss Katie Fox, defending, said the 'inept' robbery had been planned at the last minute by drug addled minds. Nettleford was only recruited minutes before they struck after a chance meeting in the street. He thought it was to be a theft and not a robbery.
Dublin from Blowers Green Road, Nettleford of Stourbridge Road, both Dudley, and Cina from Stourbridge Road, Brierley Hill each admitted robbery and theft. Cina also pleaded guilty to taking drugs in Featherstone prison and breaching a suspended sentence. He was jailed for four years while Dublin was locked up for two years four months and Nettleford two years three months.
Judge James Burbidge QC ordered the 'significant public spirited conduct' of Mr Singh be recognised with a £250 payment from the High Sheriff's funds.
