Duo jailed after armed robbery

Feb 18 2008

TWO men who took part in a robbery at a Solihull newsagents during which a member of staff had a knife held to her throat have been given indeterminate prison sentences.

Matthew Taylor and Samuel Francis had both pleaded guilty to robbing Denise Hardwick of cash and cigarettes during the raid at the Star newsagents in Earlswood.

Taylor, 29, of Shawsdale Road, Castle Bromwich, and Francis, 39, of Packington Avenue, Shard End, Birmingham, who both had previous convictions for offences including robbery, were jailed by Judge Charles Harris QC at Warwick Crown Court.

They will serve two-and-a-half years, minus the 258 days they have spent on remand, before considered for release.

Prosecutor Raj Punia said that in May last year, Denise Hardwick was working in the newsagents with 18-year-old assistant Rochelle Taylor.

Three men with their faces covered rushed inside. While one grabbed the teenager, another robber, who has not been caught, held a knife towards Ms Hardwick's chest and also put the point to her neck.

The robbers then piled money from the safe and packs of cigarettes onto a duvet cover before bundling it up and escaping in a car which was later found with the cigarettes in the duvet next to it.

Defence barristers said neither Taylor nor Francis had the knife and no injury was caused with it.

But Judge Harris told them: "You are both experienced criminals and drug-users who did not hesitate to embark on an armed robbery."