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Armed robbers jailed for £87,000 office raid
Alex Scapens21/11/2007
A GANG of armed robbers who sprayed a security guard with petrol and threatened to set him on fire before escaping with £87,000 has been jailed for over 43 years.
They were given jail sentences from six to 10 and a half years after Manchester Crown Court heard of their "professional and well organised" attack at a Post Office, on Castle Street, Edgeley.
But the court heard how the raid was foiled by a police surveillance team, which had followed the gang to the scene following a complex investigation.
A CCTV camera covering the scene had been damaged in advance and the men - some armed with a gun, sledgehammer and a squeezie bottle filled with petrol - wore waterproof suits to avoid leaving tell-tale fibres.
Judge Anthony Hammond said the robbery involved "careful planning and preparation and was clearly well reconnoitred".
The men were Lee Walker, 29, of Astbury Crescent, Bridgehall, his brother Craig, 37, also of Astbury Crescent, Victor Maddocks, 22, of Brindale Road, Brinnington, Simon Clarke, 33, of Chancel Mews, Stockport, and Neil Grice, 27, of Sherwood Road, Denton.
They were sentenced to 10 years and six months, six years, 10 years, seven years and 10 years imprisonment respectively.
A sixth man, Stuart Hadfield, 33, of Withensgreen, Offerton, will be sentenced later after his case was adjourned for reports.
Lee Walker's home was used as the base for the raid, a Mercedes car was stolen and fitted with false number plates for a getaway car and a lock-up storage unit was rented as a ‘safe place’ to open stolen cash boxes.
But police trailed the gang as they travelled in convoy to the newsagents and sub-post office where the cash was to be delivered.
Some were arrested immediately after the robbery, in October last year, and others were caught later.
Prosecutor Adrian Farrow said that Grice, Maddocks and Hadfield had all gone into the post office wearing masks and armed.
Lee Walker and Clarke were acting as getaway drivers in different cars while Craig Walker was a look-out.
The men struck seconds after the security guards arrived to deliver the cash and one was sprayed with petrol.
A loaded handgun was brandished and the sledgehammer was smashed against the strong-room door before the robbers fled with cash boxes containing the money.
They got in one of the getaway cars but police swooped and managed to hem them in as they tried to speed off. An officer suffered a broken ankle as the gang tried to escape.
Grice, Maddocks and Lee Walker were all arrested at the scene while Hadfield escaped but he and Craig Walker were caught later. All the stolen money was recovered.
Following sentencing Det Chf Insp Michael Fraser said: “These arrests amounted to acts of considerable bravery on the part of unarmed officers who detained an armed criminal gang prepared for extreme violence.”
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