A GROUP of men have been convicted after hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of IT equipment was stolen in an armed robbery in Solihull.
Jermaine Williams, Benjamin Need, Mark Earl, Gary Newman and Patrick Cooke were all involved in a raid in March which saw between £150,000 and £250,000 worth of goods stolen.
The five are all due to be sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court in December for their parts in the theft.
On the night of the raid, Williams, Need, Earl and Newman all entered the business premises wearing masks and armed with knives.
The four tied up a staff member and threatened them at knifepoint while they loaded up a company van with IT equipment including laptops and TVs.
Having filled up the van, which was fitted with a tracker, they drove off in it.
West Midlands Police said officers saw Williams, 38, and arrested him within 10 minutes of the call coming in.
Extensive CCTV enquiries helped officers from Solihull’s investigations department to identify Need, Earl and Martin and arrest them three days later, recovering most of the stolen goods in the process.
Cooke was not involved in the robbery, but was convicted of handling stolen goods.
Williams and Need both pleaded guilty, while Newman, Earl and Cooke were all convicted at trial earlier this month.
Detective Inspector Mark Heard, from Solihull Local Policing Area, said: “This was a major investigation following on from what must have been a terrifying ordeal for the staff member who was present.
“Thanks to some excellent work by the officers involved, we were able to recover most of the stolen goods within three days of the raid taking place.
“Hopefully news of their conviction and later sentencing will give everyone involved some comfort and reassurance that we will continue to take the strongest possible action against those responsible.
“Carrying knives and using them in an armed robbery like this is completely unacceptable and these dangerous individuals have rightly been brought to justice.”
