Machete robbers threaten to behead shoppers and staff

[dutchman]

Machete-wielding robbers made shoppers and staff kneel on the floor before threatening to behead them during a supermarket robbery in Coventry.



Three masked men entered the Nisa shop, in Winsford Avenue, Allesley Park, at about 8.15pm on Wednesday before one jumped on the counter, swung a machete around and ordered terrified customers and staff to kneel on the floor.

The robbers then emptied tills containing thousands of pounds in cash before demanding staff opened a safe.

When the thieves were told the safe was time-locked and could not be opened they threatened to cut people’s heads off - in an apparent attempt to copycat footage seen in propaganda videos released by terror group ISIS.

One of the terrified victims, who did not want to be named, said: “It was like they got some sort of sick kick out of it.

“I looked up and a bloke was standing on the counter in a balaclava. They had three or four of us on the floor kneeling with their heads down.

“They were obviously copying what they had seen about these reports of beheadings in the news.

“They were waving a machete around saying if they didn’t get what they want they would start chopping people’s heads off.

“One girl was already terrified and when they said that she just broke down.

“It was very fast, everything happened so quickly. It was over in about 15 or 20 minutes.”

The supermarket has been subject to at least four other armed robberies in the past five years.

Residents and councillors are now calling on Coventry City Council to improve lighting in the area and for the police to up its presence after the latest attack which has shocked the community.

The victim added: “They’re scum, absolute scum. They seem to do it to psyche themselves up on adrenaline.

“It’s the power of it, telling people they will take their heads off - they’re just sheer scum.

“You just go along with what they say, because it’s only money at the end of the day and your life is more important than that.

“I think they should do time if they’re caught - a minimum of five years.

“It’s not just about the physical hurt, it’s the mental anguish it’s caused - and it’s not just the people directly involved.

“People in the area see this happening and won’t want to go out at night, they don’t feel safe and it doesn’t give any sense of justice.”

One of the victims thought that the robbers could be local as they escaped on foot and seemed to know the layout of the store.

They said: “They might be local lads, they came in on foot and they escaped on foot. One of them was really trying to cover his face.

“The police had dogs and helicopters out but they got away on foot. Somebody somewhere must know something.”

The store is set to introduce new security measures following the latest robbery.

Anyone with information should contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

[rebbonk]

Just when you think things couldn't get any worse!

These fools need stopping and quickly, because if they do this a couple more times they'll have nothing to lose and they will carry out their threat.

[dutchman]

There was a massive police presence on that side of town this afternoon, I assume to reassure shoppers.

[dutchman]

Customer steals bottle of Jack Daniels while machete gang is threatening to behead staff

When a Coventry man saw his local store was being robbed, he waded in – not to tackle the robbers but to help himself to a bottle of booze from behind the counter.

But a court heard that Ronhan McErlean was soon recognised as the thief because he was such a regular at the Nisa store in Winsford Avenue, Allesley Park.

McErlean, aged 32, of Raphael Close, Whoberley, was jailed for a total of four months at the crown court in Leamington after he admitted the theft and being in breach of a suspended prison sentence.

Prosecutor Iain Willis said that suspended sentence had been imposed after McErlean had approached a man last March who turned out to be a plain-clothed police officer and offered to sell him drugs.

When he was then arrested McErlean, who had drugs worth £40 on him, responded: “I’m so stupid. I can’t believe I got caught dealing like this.”

As a result of that, at the end of May he was sentenced to eight weeks in prison suspended for two years and ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work.

But three days later he was arrested over an allegation of burglary, for which he was remanded in custody until October 30 when magistrates handed him a one-month prison term after he admitted an alternative offence of causing damage.

He was released straight away because of the time he had spent in custody, and no action was taken over the suspended sentence because it was so new, explained Mr Willis.

Less than two weeks later, on November 12, McErlean happened to be at the Nisa store in Winsford Avenue when three masked men burst in armed with a machete.

During the terrifying incident, staff and customers were ordered down on the floor and the tills were emptied before the gang demanded that the safe be opened – threatening to cut off people’s heads when they were told it could not be opened because it was on a time lock.

The court was told that the robbery was nothing to do with McErlean – but while it was taking place he seized the opportunity to snatch a £21.99 bottle of Jack Daniels from behind the counter.

But because he was such a regular at the store, when the CCTV recording was viewed in relation to the robbery, he was recognised and was arrested, added Mr Willis.

David Murray, defending, said: “In relation to the matter in May his phrase was ‘I’m so stupid’– and his behaviour on the 12th of November, while in drink, was also very stupid.

“He goes in to purchase some items and sees a robbery taking place, which was nothing to do with him, and he takes advantage of it.”

Recorder Sam Mainds QC jailed McErlean for two months for the theft, consecutive to two months of the suspended sentence which he was also ordered to serve.

Recorder Mainds told him: “You have an appalling record.”

[rebbonk]

...“I’m so stupid....

He said it!

[dutchman]

Armed gang jailed over terrifying raids across Coventry and Warwickshire


Anthony Bell, Leyton Clare and Roy Lewis

A gang of armed robbers threatened to behead staff and customers in one of a series of terrifying raids at supermarkets, post offices and stores across Coventry and Warwickshire.

Ruthless Anthony Bell, Roy Lewis and Leyton Clare targeted nine businesses in a three-month crime spree, escaping with around £10,000 in cash.

The masked thugs used an imitation gun and wielded hammers, pick axes and machetes in the raids - forcing shoppers and staff at one Nisa supermarket to kneel on the floor as they threatened to behead them.

In another post office robbery two 12-year-old schoolgirls spotted the gang putting on masks outside and were warned to ‘‘shush’. But they bravely alerted staff seconds before the raid and the criminals fled empty-handed.

Bell, 28, Lewis, 21, and 19-year-old Clare were under surveillance by police when they were spotted in their car preparing for their next robbery at a newsagents in Green Lane, Coventry , on December 23.

Officers swooped and arrested Lewis and Clare in the vehicle but driver Bell escaped after ramming a police car and then running through residential gardens. He was arrested the following morning.

All three initially denied involvement but evidence – including text messages between them plotting the raids – saw them eventually admit conspiracy to rob and possessing an imitation firearm.

Ringleader Bell, from Crediton Close in Cheylesmore, was jailed for ten years and one month at Leamington Justice Centre. He had only been released from a lengthy prison sentence for stabbing someone in the September.

His accomplices, both of no fixed abode, also received lengthy jail terms.

Lewis, who has a previous conviction for robbery, was jailed for seven years and eight months while teenager Clare was sent down for six years and ten months.

The first raid took place at a Premier Food Stores in Coundon, Coventry, on October 28.

But the most sickening incident took place during a robbery on November 12 when a Nisa supermarket in the Westmede Centre in Coventry was targeted. The machete-carrying and masked robbers made shoppers and staff kneel on the floor, before then threatening to behead them.

One terrified victim later said: “It was like they got some sort of sick kick out of it. I looked up and a bloke was standing on the counter in a balaclava. They had three or four of us on the floor kneeling with their heads down.

“They were waving a machete around saying if they didn’t get what they want they would start chopping people’s heads off.”

Further raids took place at a Co-op in Rugby , Warwickshire, on November 19 and at a Spar in Banner Lane in Coventry later the same day.

A One Stop shop in the Allesley part of the city was raided on November 20 and five days later a Co-op in Nuneaton was hit.

The gang switched to a Co-op in Meriden, Solihull on November 26, before targeting an Earlsdon post office on December 19, where the 12-year-old schoolgirls had alerted staff, who bravely fought back.

The robbers were also sent packing empty handed on December 22 when they tried to rob Bagington Post Office near Warwick but a brave postmaster refused to hand over their cash register.

By now police were on their trail and officers swooped as the gang were spotted lining up a newsagents for a robbery in the Finham area of Coventry the following day.

Detective Constable Nick Betts, from the Force Priorities Team, said: “We were on them and waiting. The shop was still open with plenty of people going back and forth.

“We had to catch them ready to go or we might have no evidence but we had to get to them before they struck again.

“It turned out the gun was imitation. Everyone confronted with it thought it was real.”

He added: “We knew just how much the armed robberies had affected the staff and customers who had stood in their way.

“We had to stop any more.

“I would like to thank all the people who have bravely supported the police investigation throughout and those who bravely confronted such evilness.”