Three charged over string of shop robberies in Coventry and Warwickshire

Shops in Coventry, Leamington, Kenilworth and Stratford were hit

Three people have been charged with a series of robberies at shops in Coventry and Warwickshire.

Two men and a woman will appear in court today to face charges relating to robberies in Kenilworth, Stratford, Leamington and Coventry.

Aaron McKellar, 26, of Enright Close in Leamington Spa, has been charged with robbery.

Jennifer Plant, 27, of Christine Ledger Square, Leamington Spa, has been charged with robbery and possession of a controlled drug following an investigation into a robbery at One Stop shop in Kenilworth on Tuesday, August 2.

A third man, Jamie Considine, 24, of Beauchamp Road Kenilworth, has been charged with robbery following incidents at the One Stop, in Stratford-upon-Avon, on Tuesday, May 14; Tesco Express, in Kenilworth, on Wednesday, May 17; the One Stop, in Leamington, on Tuesday, May 30; and another, in Coventry, on Wednesday, May 15.

All three have been remanded in police custody and will appear at Warwick Magistrates’ Court this morning.

Getaway driver in knifepoint robbery has jail term cut



A man who was locked up for his part in a knifepoint robbery at a shop has had his "excessive" sentence slashed by top judges.

Aaron McKellar was recruited to act as the driver for those who robbed a store in Kenilworth in August last year.

He was found guilty of the robbery and jailed for six years at Warwick Crown Court in March.

But today, senior judges at the Court of Appeal in London said McKellar 27, of Enright Close, Leamington, had been too harshly punished and cut the term to four-and-a-half years.

Mrs Justice Elisabeth Laing said McKellar was drawn into the robbery plan at a late stage because he had access to a car.

He was not one of the two masked men who stormed into the One Stop store, in Albion Street, on August 2 last year.

One of the men jumped over the counter and demanded that the shopkeeper open the till.

Another stood on the customer side of the shop and suggested that his accomplice "stab" the employee when he struggled to open the till.

The group eventually got away with £280 in cash.

Appealing against his six-year sentence, McKellar's lawyers argued that it was wrong that he got the same term as a more heavily-involved accomplice.



Jennifer Plant, who allowed her home to be the "base" for the robbery and recruited McKellar, also got six years, the court heard.

Ruling on the appeal, Mrs Justice Laing said McKellar's sentence was "manifestly excessive".

"There is a distinction between the culpability of the two defendants, Plant and Aaron McKellar," she said.

"That should have been reflected in the sentences passed on them.

"In our judgment, the appropriate sentence would have been a sentence of four-and-a-half years' imprisonment."

Plant, 27, of Christine Ledger Square, Leamington, was jailed for six years at Warwick Crown Court earlier this year after being found guilty of committing the robbery.

One of the men who entered the store - Kevin McGregor, 29, of no fixed abode - was jailed for nine years after a jury convicted him of robbery and possession of a bladed article.



His sentence was extended from six years to nine years after the judge in the case decided he was a danger to the public.