Robbers 'foiled by their own greed in' botched Asda Darlaston raid jailed for 14 years

Lee Anslow, of no fixed address, Paul Ferguson, of Talbot Place, Wolverhampton, and Reece Jones, of Windsor Road, Tipton, stormed into Asda in St Lawrence Way, Darlaston on December 15 last year, with Anslow wielding a wrench.

The trio, who sat smirking side by side during their sentencing at Wolverhampton Crown Court, were foiled by their own greed, as the large builders bag they loaded the goods into was too heavy for them to lift and carry out of the kiosk. Police, who had been watching the robbers, then pounced to arrest them as they tried to make their escape.

Prosecutor Nicholas Smith told the court: "At about 4.45pm on December 15 last year, all three men arrived at Asda in Darlaston in a stolen Ford Focus.

Gerard McKierney was working as the security guard at the store. Anslow was the first person who entered the store carrying a wrench.

He climbed on top of the counter and told the security guard to get down.

He was waving the wrench around and so the guard did what he said. The other two followed him inside with a large builders bag and started filling it with cigarettes.

In total, it was filled with around £9,000 of cigarettes. The bag was so full, they couldn't lift it above the counter, and had to abandon it as police arrived.

The three defendants tried to escape from officers. One caught up with Anslow and tried to arrest him, but a violent struggle ensued.

The officer hit his knees on the kerbside and had to go to hospital afterwards. Eventually, more officers arrived and Anslow was subdued.

The other two also tried to escape but were caught more quickly. The driver of the Ford Focus fled, and has not been identified since."

CCTV footage of the robbery was then shown, featuring Anslow dragging the security guard to the kiosk and ordering staff and customers not to approach.

Mr Smith added: "The security guard said afterwards that he felt if he didn't do as he was told, Anslow would hurt him. A member of staff, Amanda Banks, said she felt scared to go to work and had never been so frightened in her life."

He also outlined the previous records of the trio, pointing out that Anslow has a string of burglaries as well as aggravated vehicle taking and an ASBO breach among a lengthy list in his life of crime. Ferguson also has burglaries and robberies on his record, while Jones has aggravated vehicle taking and handling stolen goods on his list of shame.

All three previously pleaded guilty to robbery at magistrates court on February 12 this year.

Defending Anslow, Andrew Baker asked Judge Kristina Montgomery QC to take into account his early guilty plea, but accepted Anslow was 'a notorious criminal in the West Midlands'. Defence barristers for Ferguson and Jones kept their mitigation brief.

Ms Montgomery told the men: "This robbery was well planned out, if not well executed. You all wore masks to conceal your identity, you had a getaway car waiting and you carried it out when it was dark outside.

"Mr Anslow, you took on the role of enforcer. I wouldn't go as far as label you the ringleader, you simply carried out a role, but you did so with considerable gusto. You wielded the wrench in a way significant enough to make the security guard feel he was in danger.

"None of you surrendered yourselves. You all played an equal part in this.

"Messrs Anslow and Ferguson have utterly deplorable previous records.

"You were foiled by your own greed."

Anslow, 28, was sentenced to four years and ten months, Ferguson, 35, for four years and eight months and Jones, 21, for four years and seven months.