Jailed, gang who beat jeweller and escaped with… his lunch
A GANG who attacked a couple in their shop and escaped with nothing more than a lunch box have been jailed for a total of 21 years.
The husband and wife were closing for the night when the robbers pounced.
The balaclava-clad trio punched the husband in the face before fleeing with bags and a box they thought contained valuables.
Leeds Crown Court heard the robbers, who included the son of a university academic, believed the couple had high value jewellery.
In fact they had snatched groceries and a lunch box from the shop in Roundhay, Leeds. Judge Tom Bayliss told them: “The inference I draw is that you were targeting what you thought to be very high value, easily sellable jewellery.
“You came away with virtually nothing but Tupperware and sandwiches.
“It was a professionally planned, commercial robbery carried out with a degree of sophistication but ultimately gaining you nothing but your convictions.”
Qasim Hussain, 28, of Bradford, and Hassan Mahmood, 26, of Leeds, were both jailed for nine years after being found guilty of robbery, assault with intent to rob and theft. Accomplice Naheem Hussain, 27, of Bradford, who is virtually blind, was jailed for three years.
A jury heard how the trio stole a car in Halifax two days before the robbery in October 2015.
The Mitsubishi Pajero was caught on CCTV a day before the attack as the men checked out their target.
Mahmood, a medical sciences student and son of a Leeds University lecturer, provided the balaclavas and arranged for the vehicle and other evidence to be torched after the raid.
The court heard they set fire to the car near to Roundhay Park but residents alerted the fire brigade who managed to put out the blaze and recover the balaclavas, which contained the defendants’ DNA.
After sentencing on Thursday, Detective Inspector Neil Thompson said: “This was a carefully planned robbery which saw the victims put through a terrifying ordeal when they were attacked as they left their business.
“We hope the significant sentences the men received will provide some reassurance to the victims and community and serve as a warning to others who involve themselves in crime such as this.”