Comstor pleased with jail sentence for gang
Distributor welcomes the jail sentences handed out to seven men for attempted robbery
Distributor Comstor has welcomed the jailing of a gang of seven men who had planned a multi-million-pound robbery at its Cirencester premises last Christmas.
The gang, which had spent months planning their attack, arrived at Comstor’s Gloucestershire warehouse on 24 December armed with coshes, ammonia, duct tape and handcuffs. However, their plans were foiled by detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s Flying Squad and armed officers from Gloucestershire Police who were lying in wait and swooped on the gang. They were arrested and charged on Christmas Day with conspiracy to rob.
It was estimated at the time that the warehouse held £29m worth of IT equipment and the gang would have made off with about £4.5m worth of kit in two vans.
All seven appeared at Harrow Crown Court last week and received jail sentences ranging from three-and-a-half to seven years. They pleaded guilty to their roles in the attempted raid at earlier court appearances.
One of the men received an extra two-and-a-half years for attempting to pervert the course of justice after he tried to corrupt a police officer by offering him £50,000 to help “sort out” his situation. That sentence runs concurrently with his seven-year sentence.
A Comstor representative told CRN: “We are delighted that the culprits were apprehended and brought to justice. It was really down to the Flying Squad who were well prepared. It’s a good result.”
Detective Superintendent Barry Phillips, head of the Flying Squad, said in a statement: “This was a classic Flying Squad operation, which shows our ability to not only combat robberies in the capital, but also to work closely with other forces to prevent serious criminals targeting businesses in other parts of the country.”