Five locked away over conspiracy to rob van

A FORMER supermarket employee was among a gang sentenced to more than 28 years behind bars after they admitted conspiring to rob vans carrying cash.

Nisha Nadeem and Tariq Aziz, both 20, were jailed at Bradford Crown Court yesterday in relation to the conspiracy, which involved the robbery of a G4S cashin-transit van in Bradford.

Also sentenced for their involvement were Humza Ali and Mohammed Shah, both 19, and a 17-year-old male from Bradford.

Nadeem, of Woodhall Park Crescent East, Stanningley, and the 17-year-old initially denied any involvement but changed their pleas after their trial began last month.

Aziz, Ali and the 17-yearold were arrested when police swooped on a Saab car outside the Tesco Express store on Town Street, Stanningley, on June 26.

A knife and a lump hammer were found in the vehicle, along with tights, a balaclava and gloves, police said.

The previous month two men had robbed a security employee of a cash box containing more than £11,000 outside the Tesco Express store on Bolton Road, Bradford.

Aziz, of Leeds Road, Bradford, and Ali, of Sunnybank Avenue in Thornbury, were later charged with and pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to rob. Nadeem, who was working as an assistant at the Tesco Express store in Stanningley at the time, passed information to Aziz about when vans visited the convenience stores in Bradford and Leeds.

She was arrested and charged with conspiracy to rob, but later pleaded guilty to an alternative offence of aiding and abetting the incident in Stanningley.

Aziz was jailed for seven years and nine months; Ali for seven years and eight months; Shah, of Stonegate Road, Bradford, for six years; and Nadeem for two years.

The 17-year-old must spend five years and four months in a Young Offenders’ Institution.