Three defendants were yesterday convicted of a violent armed robbery in a Post Office raid in South London. Two of the getaway drivers already pleaded guilty to their involvement in the offence.
Read the Mail Online article below:
A gang of robbers dropped a backpack stuffed with £15,000 worth of banknotes in the street as they fled the scene of a Post Office raid.
Three thugs burst into a busy Post Office in Croydon, south London in May and savagely pistol-whipped two female members of staff before making off with a bag full of British and foreign banknotes.
The trio have been convicted of robbery today after two getaway drivers pleaded guilty to their part in the raid at previous hearings. All of the men now face lengthy jail terms.
The Old Bailey heard Shane Perry, 33, Dwayne Ramsey, 34, and 27-year-old Gary Katabarwa arrived at the Croydon branch shortly after it opened.
Ramsey stopped petrified customers from leaving, while Katabarwa pointed a loaded gun at staff and pistol-whipped two female Post Office employees around the head.
Shane Perry and Katabarwa then leapt on the counter and stuffed British and foreign banknotes into a rucksack.
Reece Perry was arrested as he was waiting for the return of his accomplices near his Ford Puma car while police found the fifth member of the gang, Herbert Kulsumu, hiding in his Audi, parked yards away from Perry's Puma, at about 11.15am.
Two of the Post Office staff were taken to hospital with non-life threatening head injuries, while London Ambulance Service staff also treated a man in his sixties for minor injuries after the police car rolled away.
Police released pictures of the gun used to threaten the staff and customers, which was a loaded 9mm semi-automatic Russian-made pistol. The antique four-barrelled pistol, which was also loaded, was found in Reece Perry’s getaway car.
DC Adam Barsby of the Met's Flying Squad said: 'This criminal gang terrorised staff and customers, brandishing a loaded firearm and pistol whipping cashiers.
'The recovery of two loaded guns and ammunition, coupled with these convictions, means London's streets are a safer place today.'
The five men are due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey on December 17.
Edmund Burge is a specialist criminal barrister who prosecutes and defends the full range of offences.
He specialises in the prosecution and defence of serious financial, commercial and organised crime, with a focus on tax and other serious fraud, corruption, arms-trafficking and brokering, money laundering, large-scale drug-importations and other serious organised criminal matters.
