Sledgehammer bank raid gang jailed for 83 years
THESE CCTV pictures show the terrifying moment a prolific robbery gang burst through the doors of a bank in Maghull.
The footage, accompanied by a recording of a 999 call to police, was released on the day the gang responsible was jailed for a total of 83 years.
On this occasion, at the Barclays bank on Liverpool Road in Maghull on August 12, 2013, they left empty-handed.
In the video and audio recordings, staff are seen fleeing into the back, seconds before raiders burst in and smoke pours into the building.
A woman calling 999 is heard to say: “It’s a robbery! They are outside, I think they are ram-raiding the front.” The bank has since permanently closed. DNA in a getaway vehicle eventually led detectives to one of the raiders, Alan Lea. It was part of a compelling body of evidence that led to the gangs convictions at Liverpool Crown Court last Wednesday (May 25).
Justice finally caught up with them as Kieron Whittle, Alan Lea, Ian Stewart, Shaun McDonald, John Stewart and Gary McNeil were all put behind bars. The sledgehammer-wielding thieves had stolen £1.3m during a burglary spree at 22 banks and post offices.
Shocked staff were left “petrified” when the gang burst through the roofs, walls and doors of branches in Merseyside and beyond.
However, despite the “hallmarks of professionalism” shown in the carefully researched robberies, the crooks were caught out after ditching balaclavas and gloves bearing incriminating DNA.
Judge David Aubrey, QC, said: “Each of you were playing for high stakes and you were determined so to do. You cared not about their ordeal. You cared not about their suffering.”
Merseyside and Cheshire police launched Operation Brenzett to investigate robberies committed using similar methods from 2009 to 2015.
Henry Riding, prosecuting, said: “The usual modus operandi involved members of the gang forcing entry into the premises with sledgehammers and crowbars, more often than not via the roof.”
A pregnant worker feared she was going to prematurely give birth in a robbery on March 23, 2015, when three men attacked the Lloyds TSB in Sutton, St Helens and stole £6,710.
Whittle, 35, of Little Parkfield Road, Aigburth; John Stewart, 30, of Waverley Road, Aigburth; Lea, 38, of Verney Crescent, Toxteth; McDonald, 38, of Charleston Road, Toxteth, Ian Stewart, 48, formerly of Stonegate Drive, Toxteth; and McNeil, 35, formerly of Upper Pitt Street, Liverpool city centre; all admitted conspiracy to commit robbery.
Ken Heckle, defending Lea, said his client said he was only a driver for the gang.
Lloyd Morgan, defending Whittle, said the dad-of-two wanted to leave his life of crime behind him.
Alaric Walmsley, defending John Stewart, said the dad-of-one did at no time “have or use any item that could be used as a weapon”.
Jonathan Duffy, defending McDonald – previously jailed for robbery and heroin offences – said the dad-of-three cared for disabled family members.
Ben Morris, defending McNeil, said the dad-of-four was tempted by crime after giving up his job to care for his father.
Nicholas Cockrell, defending Ian Stewart, previously jailed for 12 years for two robberies, said the grandad-of-six quit work as a bus driver in 2001 because of the rare disorder Wegener’s granulomatosis.
Judge Aubrey sentenced Whittle to 15 years, John Stewart to 13 and a half years, Lea to 16 years, McDonald to 13 years and four months, Ian Stewart to 13 years, and McNeil to 12 and a half years in jail.