B&M staff attacked in terrifying raid at Coventry store

[dutchman]

A gang armed with crowbars fractured the skull of a member of staff during a terrifying raid on a discount superstore.



The raid happened at B&M in Ansty Road. The popular shop, based in the old Homebase building, was targeted as it was about to close at 8pm.

Three armed men on motorbikes and wearing helmets arrived at the store and forced a member of staff into an office.

The woman locked herself inside the rear office but the gang kicked the door down.

They then threatened the woman and forced her to hand over cash from the safe.

Another member of staff tried to intervene but was attacked with a crowbar, fracturing his skull.

The group left the store on motorbikes along Ansty Road towards the city centre.

The registration plates on the bikes had been blacked out.

The Telegraph has been told that some evidence has been left at the scene and the gang has been captured on in-store CCTV cameras.

Paramedics were called to treat the injured staff member.

They were originally told the man had suffered a puncture wound to his neck.

A spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said on arrival crews found a man with head injuries. He was taken over the road to University Hospital.

Police have launched an investigation into the raid, which happened on Tuesday night, and are appealing for witnesses, or anyone with information, to get in touch.

B&M has only been open for five months. Nearly 100 people are employed by the discount retailer in the store or garden centre.

Queues of people were waiting to get in when it was opened and since then the shop has earned rave reviews.

Anyone with information should call police on 101.

[dutchman]

Trio jailed for Coventry B&M crowbar raid that left worker with fractured skull



Three men have been jailed for a crowbar raid at a Coventry store that left a brave staff member with a fractured skull after he ran to protect a female colleague.

Jamie Phelan, Kieran Prentice and Jack Lindon charged into B&M Bargains, in Ansty Road, Walsgrave, shortly after closing time on June 23 last year.

The gang – who bought balaclavas and crowbars from another discount store just an hour before the 8.15pm robbery – kicked open the cash office door and demanded a manager hand over takings from the safe.

A shop worker intervened to defend the woman but, despite his pleas for calm, was hit in the face with the butt of a fire extinguisher before 18-year-old Lindon struck him three times across the head with a crowbar.

All three fled empty-handed – with 27-year-old Phelan dropping a bundle of notes during the scuffle – and escaped on two motorbikes having clambered through a hole in a perimeter fence they’d earlier cut to gain access to the rear of the store.

Crucially they left a crowbar at the scene – with a partially removed sticker on the handle – while a rucksack was found discarded in nearby undergrowth.

And when a media appeal for information led the enquiry to Poundstore, in Foleshill Road, detectives viewed CCTV that showed them buying balaclavas, two crowbars and the rucksack before leaving in a Ford Focus.

Officers later recovered the vehicle and found remnants of the crowbar sticker in the passenger seat foot-well.

Phelan, Lindon and 28-year-old Prentice were arrested from their home addresses in Westmorland Road, Wyken; Pailton Close, Wood End; and Charles Eaton Road, Bedworth, respectively, during simultaneous dawn raids on July 13.

All three went on to admit robbery and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and at Leamington Justice Centre today. Phelan was jailed for seven years and four months, Lindon six years and Prentice seven years and four months.

Detectives had also probed the trio’s links to a robbery at Thomas Cook in Brade Drive, Walsgrave, on June 9 – where £16,000 in sterling and £10,000 in foreign currency was stolen – but that offence was left on file with the court.

Sergeant Gareth Mitchell, from West Midlands Police Force Priorities Team, said: “This was a vicious robbery: they used gratuitous violence against a defenceless staff member and left him needing emergency surgery to remove a fragment of skull from his brain.

“Thankfully he has gone on to make a full physical recovery but we can’t underestimate the psychological scars of such an attack.

“We secured compelling evidence against Phelan, Lindon and Prentice – who are members of a recognised crime gang in Coventry – and it’s satisfying they have been jailed and are out of harm’s way for many years. And upon their eventual release they will be robustly offender-managed by police.”

Prison is a joke, they may as well be sending them to Butlins.

[dutchman]

Wanted man was part of robbery gang that left victim with fractured skull



A robber who was part of a gang involved in a violent robbery in Coventry is wanted for recall to prison.

Phelan was jailed for seven years and four months, Lindon six years and Prentice seven years and four months.

However, Phelan, 30, from Wyken, has since been released from prison and West Midlands Police say he is now wanted after breaching the conditions of his licence.