Armed robbers who terrorised shop staff for cash and cigarettes jailed
A pair of armed robbers who stole cash and cigarettes in raids that terrified shop staff have been jailed.
Stephen Beckley, 34, and Peter Marsden, 58, blame addictions to crack cocaine and heroin for the spate of robberies in the Stourbridge area in March last year.
Marsden was the focus of a dramatic arrest the following month that saw officers seal off St James Church car park in Wollaston after they struck at two businesses on the same day.
The defendants were sentenced on Wednesday after previously pleading guilty to three joint counts of robbery and one count of possession of an imitation firearm, after initially denying any wrongdoing.
In the first incident on March 22 last year the pair wore Iron Man and zombie masks when they walked into the Spar in Bridgnorth Road in Wollaston. Beckley was armed with an airgun fitted with a silencer, and his accomplice a baseball bat.
Prosecuting barrister Mr Jaspreet Dhaliwal told Wolverhampton Crown Court the pair threatened and swore at the staff demanding money before fleeing the scene in Marsden's silver VW Golf.
