A FORMER student who carried out 18 armed robberies at a bank, supermarkets, convenience stores and service stations across the region has been jailed.
Kudakwashe Chowa held shop workers at knifepoint and on one occasion used a gun to threaten staff at a bank in Acocks Green, stealing over £3,500 in cash.
The 30-year-old, of High Street, Erdington, was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court after pleading guilty to six armed robberies on retail premises across Solihull, Birmingham, Dudley and Tipton between February and October last year.
Chowa also asked for 12 other robbery offences to be taken into consideration before he was sentenced to 15 behind bars.
West Midlands Police said 17 of the armed robberies were carried out at knifepoint and at the final robbery before he was caught he used a gun to rob a bank.
He targeted a One-Stop shop in Solihull but ran out after a staff member activated the alarm.
His offending came to light after he left his DNA at the scene of a robbery at Lloyds Bank where he was armed with a BB gun and escaped with £3639.15 in cash.
Chowa was arrested at his home where officers seized BB gun packaging and a money bag stolen in the robbery.
Tejinder Sandhu from the CPS said: “Chowa was a menace to society and had no regard for the safety of staff who were just going about their daily business.
“He used his educated background as a law graduate to plan and execute these robberies and attempted to get away with it by switching multiple mobile phones and destroying evidence.
“At the sentencing hearing, the court heard of the devastating effects his crimes had on numerous victims who were left scarred by his actions.
“He has now rightly received a lengthy sentence which reflects the severity of his offending and should serve as an example to other criminals.”
Detective Sergeant Curt Wilkins, from the robbery team at Sutton Coldfield, said: “This is testament to the hard work that was carried out by officers from the Birmingham East Robbery Team.
“The initial attendance, the tenacity shown during hours of CCTV work, through to his arrest, evidence gathering at the scene, interview and the subsequent file of evidence that was prepared led to this fantastic result.
“He was brazen in his approach, but his luck finally ran out. He was presented with so much evidence that he had no alternative but to plead guilty to all offences.
“These are serious offences reflected in the sentence, with many of the victims still impacted to this very day, hopefully this result provides them with some closure and an avenue for them to move forward in their lives knowing Chowa is behind bars.”
