Armed gang faces lengthy jail terms for violent jewellery raid
Men admit to stealing watches worth £230,000 at Argyll Arcade
AN ARMED robbery gang are behind bars after an £230,000 heist at an exclusive jewellery mall.
Jason Yendall, 29, Aaron Brannan and Jason Britton, both 23, snatched 21 expensive watches from the Rox store in Glasgow’s Argyll Arcade last September.
The daylight raid, which lasted less than four minutes, saw shoppers and staff dive for cover as the mob armed with deadly weapons stormed the jewellers.
They stole designer timepieces by Hublot and Bell and Ross ranging in value from £2750 to £23,000 each. The haul of £229,601 has yet to be recovered.
The trio sped off in a stolen vehicle after then fleeing the smokefilled arcade.
One of the gang was later clocked on a mobile phone photo wearing a watch, while two associates showed theirs off at a local bookmakers.
The trio. along with Alistair Oliver, 30, and Gordon McLay, 32, were then involved in a £20,000 bank robbery of an RBS in Tollcross, Edinburgh, a week later.
But police were already on their tail after the Glasgow raid and were on the scene to catch them afterwards.
Yendall, Brannan and Britton have pleaded guilty at the High Court in Glasgow to taking part in the Argyll Arcade heist. Oliver and McLay admitted to the reset of two watches. They all admitted involvement in the RBS raid. Prosecutor Sheena Fraser said the robberies were “very wellorganised crimes”.
This involved vehicles and registration plates being stolen in Scotland and England. On September 23, the day before the Argyll Arcade raid, Yendall, Brannan and Britton carried out a dry run.
The next morning, the trio along with two unknown associates travelled through from Edinburgh “in convoy”.
The gang stopped in Queen Street, close to the arcade.
Miss Fraser told the court: “Four of the men got out of the car – two carrying baseball bats, one a sledgehammer and one an axe.
“One of them was also carrying a holdall. The driver remained within the car.”
The balaclavaclad men sprinted down Buchanan Street into the
‘‘ Members of the group in the arcade were shouting and banging on other shop windows
busy mall about 1pm. As some of the gang took turns to keep a lookout, others rushed inside and smashed a window display.
Terrified staff and customers looked on as 21 highend watches were snatched and tossed into bags.
Miss Fraser said: “While this was happening, members of the group in the arcade were shouting and banging on other shop windows.
“This generated a great deal of fear and panic as it was busy with public and staff from other shops.”
The court heard how one worker activated a device that saw smoke fill the arcade in a bid to “disorientate” the raiders.
Some shoppers captured the incident on their mobile phones.
But, under four minutes after arriving, the gang fled with their loot. One yelled as they raced out: “I’ll f****** kill you all.”
They jumped into their getaway vehicle before eventually heading on the M8 towards Edinburgh.
Oliver and McLay, were in a bookmakers in Wallyford, East Lothian, hours after the raid.
The pair were each sporting £2750 watches taken from the Argyll Arcade. Miss Fraser added: “They had been given them by (Yendall, Brannan and Britton) after they returned to Edinburgh.
“They have not been recovered and were sold on.”
The gang all already had
a criminal past. Yendall was out on the streets despite being locked up for five years in 2012 for another robbery.
Judge Lord Turnbull, who remanded them in custody, deferred sentencing until next month for reports.