Two jailed over death of jeweller in botched robbery

TWO MEN have been jailed for life for the kidnap and murder of a 74-year-old jeweller in a botched £300,000 robbery.

Thomas Jervis, 24, and Charles Mcauley, 20, were convicted at Birmingham Crown Court of murdering Ramniklal Jogiya on the grounds of joint enterprise.

Yesterday, the heist’s planner Jervis was jailed for life with a minimum term of 33 years, while Mcauley was sentenced to custody for life with a minimum of 30 years.

Mr Jogiya was bundled into a van while walking home at night in January before being beaten and dumped in a country lane near Stoughton, Leicestershire.

Callan Reeve, 20, who was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter after a five-week trial, was jailed for 16 years.

After the attack Jervis, of Enderby Road, Whetstone, Leicestershire, returned to the shop to open the safe while wearing a burkha disguise, but was defeated by a 12-hour time-lock.

Mcauley, of Gooding Avenue, Leicester, denied having anything to do with the killing and tried to blame another man during the trial. He and Jervis hugged as they walked from the dock, as Mcauley nodded and waved to family in the packed public gallery.

Reeve, of Aylmer Road, Leicester, who had acted as a look-out for the robbery, bowed his head as he was sentenced. All three admitted kidnap and robbery but denied killing their victim.

Jailing the men, Mr Justice Martin Spencer said: “One can only imagine the terror that poor man went through in the back of the van as the information required was tortured out of him.

“He was then dumped by the side of the road in the Leicestershire countryside and left to die.

“This was a cowardly, cruel and callous crime committed by men motivated by greed and self-interest with no respect for human life.”

An investigation to trace others in connection with the botched heist is continuing, Leicestershire Police said.