Thug handed extra time in jail after losing appeal

A ‘DANGEROUS’ thug jailed for his part in a violent armed robbery plot has earned himself an extra four weeks in jail – for wasting top judges’ time.

Christopher Reuben, right, was jailed for 17 years at Manchester Crown Court in March along with ‘greedy’ pals Anthony Gough and Lee Tansey. The 32-year-old, of Wigan Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan, was also ordered to serve an extra four years on licence after his release after being branded a ‘danger’ to the public. Reuben, Gough and Tansey targeted banks and jewellers across the north between 2016 and 2017.

Police said the gang were ‘fuelled by greed’ and became ‘arrogant in the fact they were never going to be caught’. They put meticulous planning into their crimes, disguising themselves as builders in a white van so they could ‘hide in plain sight’.

In one terrifying raid, gunmen pounced on two women as they arrived for work at a jeweller’s in Rossendale, grabbing one of them by the throat and pushing her against the wall. Armed with a handgun and a sawn-off shotgun, the thugs fled with more than £200,000, using a get-away Chrysler driven by a third man.

Mr Justice Nicol, sitting with two other appeal judges, said his appeal was ‘wholly without merit’ and took the rare step of ordering that 28 days already served should not count towards his minimum term.