Gang jailed for armed raids

An armed gang that used the internet to learn the lay-out of pubs and other businesses, before raiding 30 premises in a nine-month crime spree across 13 counties, have been jailed.

The four gang members, all from Basildon in Essex, were given a total of 35 years at Luton Crown Court on Friday last week for the attacks that netted them £150,000.

The court was told that the gang, who were often armed with imitation guns and knives and wore balaclavas and masks that were similar to those used in the horror film Scream, would strike pubs, restaurants, and other businesses at closing time.

In some attacks, the court heard that pub staff were locked in store cupboards while they were cashing up. Other victims were forced to their knees and were made to put their hands on their heads during the attacks, which took place between September 2002 and June 2003.

Callum Hunter, 37, from Falstones, was given life imprisonment after pleading guilty to conspiracy to rob and conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life. He got an automatic life sentence because this was his third armed-robbery conviction.

Kevin Ian Darren Taylor, 21, from Falstones, and Peter James Williams, 20, from Briscoe Road, Pitsea, were jailed for five and six years respectively after admitting conspiracy to rob and conspiracy to possess firearms. Leila Newman-Weeks, 43, also from Falstones, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob and got four years.