'Terrifying' masked gang stole cigarettes during brazen Leeds Co-op robbery
A masked gang that hit a Co-op in Leeds in an early-morning raid have all been jailed - after they were quickly traced and arrested.
The three, all wearing hoods and face coverings, entered the Swarcliffe convenience store and tried to open the till, before filling a sheet up with cigarettes and fleeing.
But CCTV easily traced the men heading back to Connor Cooper’s nearby home minutes later, with the police heading to the address a short time later and forcing entry. Cooper, Paul Middleton and Ashley Bates were all jailed at Leeds Crown Court this week.
Prosecutor Andrew Nixon said the three were seen approaching the quiet store on Swarcliffe Avenue at around 7am on January 21.
Bates stood near the entrance armed with a wooden stick as the other two entered. A basket was placed in the doorway to prevent it from closing.
Cooper then jumped over the counter where a member of staff was pressing the panic alarm when they realised what was happening.
They were ordered to stop pressing the button, and one of the robbers was heard to say “get the sheet” - which was then spread on the counter as they piled on boxes of cigarettes.
Bates was seen to be “prowling around the store” armed with the stick. They then wrapped their loot up in the sheet and fled.
Having moved in to arrest the suspects at Cooper’s home on Sherburn Square, just half a mile from the shop, they found cigarettes and the clothes the men had been wearing in the store.
The tread on a pair of trainers seized also matched a footprint found on the shop counter.
All three appeared in court from HMP Leeds over the video link, where they were all held on remand since their arrest, and admitted the robbery.
Bates, 30, also admitted possession of an offensive weapon. Cooper, 31, admitted a second robbery of the same shop just two weeks before the gang’s efforts.
He had been trying to shoplift on the morning of January 6, but when stopped by the manager, he and another man threatened violence before climbing over the counter and stealing alcohol and cigarettes.
Cooper also entered the store on January 14 and shoplifted washing tablets and chocolate, for which he admitted a charge of theft.
The court heard that 47-year-old Middleton, of Swarcliffe Road, Swarcliffe, has 27 previous convictions for 46 offences, including burglaries, car crimes and handling stolen goods.
Cooper has 15 previous convictions for 21 offences, also including burglaries and handling stolen goods. Bates, of Swardale Green, Swarcliffe, has only one conviction for being drunk and disorderly.
Mitigating for Cooper, Harry Crowson said he had struggled with drug addiction which led him into crime. He said that since being held on remand, he has abstained and is remorseful for his actions.
For Middleton, Oliver Norman said he too had slipped back into drug use having got clean since his last jail sentence. Mr Norman said: “Despite his late guilty plea, he is remorseful.
“It’s the embarrassment of admitting such a horrible crime, in part, that prevented him from entering a guilty plea at an earlier stage.”
For Bates, Anastasis Tasou said it was “tragic” that a man with just one previous conviction was to be sentenced for robbery. He said it was “out of character”, but that Bates had become addicted to alcohol and the promise of more led him to take part in the robbery.
Judge Simon Phillips KC told the three: “It was a co-ordinated and pre-planned robbery. It was brazen criminality, instilling terror towards staff. It would have been terrifying for the staff victim.”
He jailed Cooper for 56 months, Middleton for 44 months and Bates for 30 months. All three were given life-long restraining orders banning them from entering the Co-op in Swarcliffe.