Jailed, armed bank robbers trapped by dye
TWO bank robbers who held up terrified staff at gunpoint before escaping on a motorbike have been jailed for a total of 27 years.
They were brought to justice thanks in part to a quick-thinking and brave cashier who dropped a dye pack into a bag containing their £14,000 haul.
Notes tainted by red dye were later recovered at the homes of raiders Paul Broughton and Jason Jenyons.
The pair struck at the NatWest in King Street, Knutsford, on March 5.
At 12.40pm one of the managers was outside the bank monitoring customers coming in when he was pushed from behind and saw a man holding what looked like a handgun.
He tried to get into a safe room but was grabbed and forced into the bank.
A second robber stood by the entrance to the premises as a look out. Both were wearing motorcycle helmets.
The gunman demanded money from a cashier and a quantity of cash was put into a freezer bag he was holding.
A customer in the bank at the time who managed to get into an interview room to keep herself safe.
The courageous cashier managed to drop the dye pack into the freezer bag which the money was placed in.
A staff member who was in the back office noticed the disturbance and saw a man with a gun on CCTV. She activated the panic button and called police.
Jenyons and Broughton fled the scene with £14,100, and got onto a motorbike parked up in Old Market
Place before riding onto Moorside. But at some point the dye activated in the cash bag. Detectives later identified Jenyons as a suspect.
He was arrested three days after the robbery and a search of his address led to the discovery of a large amount of cash in various places including his bedroom and on himself.
A lot of the cash had been tainted with red dye and some of the cash had been found in a container of liquid.
The dye pack was also recovered in the search along with other incriminating evidence. He was later charged with robbery and possession of an imitation firearm.
Officer discovered a mobile phone belonging to Jenyons was in the process of an outgoing call to a mobile number which was linked to Broughton.
Further enquiries put them together shortly after the robbery and Broughton was arrested on the same day.
He was found to be in possession of £400 cash, which had a slight red tinge on some of the notes.
Broughton was then charged with robbery and possession of an imitation firearm.
Broughton, 43, of Shaw Drive, Knutsford, pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of an imitation firearm at an earlier hearing.
Jenyons, 51, of Overfields, Knutsford, also pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of an imitation firearm.
Broughton was sentenced to 12 years in prison while Jenyons was sentenced to 15 years – both with an extended three year licence added on.