Jail for post office raider
Thursday, 12th July 2001.
A MAN who took part in a robbery bid at Kedington post office, has begun a three-year jail sentence.
Michael Smith, 37, of North Road, Blackburn - formerly of Cambridge, admitted being one of the failed robbers. He pleaded guilty to attempted robbery.
Another man, Daryl Tyler, previously pleaded guilty to his part in the robbery bid and was jailed for four years at an earlier hearing.
Sentencing Smith at Ipswich Crown Court, Judge Nicholas Beddard, said there were differences between the two men. Smith, unlike Tyler, had to wait six months, after pleading guilty, before he was sentenced. Also Tyler had a “somewhat worse record” and had previously served time in prison, The Judge also pointed out that there was another advantage for Smith in the way he was sentenced. He would automatically be released after serving half the sentence
Details of the robbery were given to the court by Mark Cannatella, prosecuting. He said the robbery took place at Kedington post office and shop on September 9, 1999, at around 2.15pm. The postmistress, Olive Upton, was behind the counter serving customers. One of the customers was Arthur Stanbridge and there was a woman customer with a four year old son, There was a man in the shop, wearing a balaclava and brandishing a knife. He shouted: "Come on – give me the money". This was Daryl Tyler, said Mr Cannatella.
A witness described one of the would-be robbers as having a metal bar. The person described was Michael Smith, who was later to tell the police it was in fact, a scredriver he was holding.
Mr Cannatella told how the husband of the postmistress, Peter Upton, picked up a chair and hit one of the raiders with it Mr Stanbridge also assisted by hitting one of them with a bag.
The robbery bid having failed, both raiders drove off in a Vauxhall car stolen in Cambridge the day before.
Defence barrister Robert O’Sullivan told the judge: "The principal mitigation is parity with the co-defendant." Michael Smith had expressed "considerable remorse."
Judge Beddard, sentencing Smith, said: "The courts take a very serious view of robberies of small shops, which people often see as a quite soft target,"
The courts therefore sought to protect them with heavy sentences for those who committed such offences, said the judge.
Michael Smith, 37, of North Road, Blackburn - formerly of Cambridge, admitted being one of the failed robbers. He pleaded guilty to attempted robbery.
Another man, Daryl Tyler, previously pleaded guilty to his part in the robbery bid and was jailed for four years at an earlier hearing.
Sentencing Smith at Ipswich Crown Court, Judge Nicholas Beddard, said there were differences between the two men. Smith, unlike Tyler, had to wait six months, after pleading guilty, before he was sentenced. Also Tyler had a “somewhat worse record” and had previously served time in prison, The Judge also pointed out that there was another advantage for Smith in the way he was sentenced. He would automatically be released after serving half the sentence
Details of the robbery were given to the court by Mark Cannatella, prosecuting. He said the robbery took place at Kedington post office and shop on September 9, 1999, at around 2.15pm. The postmistress, Olive Upton, was behind the counter serving customers. One of the customers was Arthur Stanbridge and there was a woman customer with a four year old son, There was a man in the shop, wearing a balaclava and brandishing a knife. He shouted: "Come on – give me the money". This was Daryl Tyler, said Mr Cannatella.
A witness described one of the would-be robbers as having a metal bar. The person described was Michael Smith, who was later to tell the police it was in fact, a scredriver he was holding.
Mr Cannatella told how the husband of the postmistress, Peter Upton, picked up a chair and hit one of the raiders with it Mr Stanbridge also assisted by hitting one of them with a bag.
The robbery bid having failed, both raiders drove off in a Vauxhall car stolen in Cambridge the day before.
Defence barrister Robert O’Sullivan told the judge: "The principal mitigation is parity with the co-defendant." Michael Smith had expressed "considerable remorse."
Judge Beddard, sentencing Smith, said: "The courts take a very serious view of robberies of small shops, which people often see as a quite soft target,"
The courts therefore sought to protect them with heavy sentences for those who committed such offences, said the judge.
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