'Italian Job' men jailed
Two men have been jailed following an "Italian Job" raid which netted electrical goods worth more than £500,000 from a Wolverhampton warehouse, a court heard.
Recorder Shamim Qureshi jailed Nathan and Christian Ellis for a total of 19 years for their part in the raid on the Argos warehouse in Stafford Road.
He said CCTV images showing three white vans manoeuvring in and out of the compound and escaping with thousands of goods could have been taken from the classic 1969 film starring Michael Caine.
He added: "The kind of planning that went into this robbery was like something you would expect to see in The Italian Job. It was meticulous."
Wolverhampton Crown Court sitting in Brierley Hill heard that Nathan Ellis, aged 23, was the "inside man", working as a security guard at the firm and tipped off his friends when the temperamental alarm system was not working on September 24, 2005.
Christian Ellis, aged 21, along with at least five others, donned balaclavas, drove onto the site and into the security guards' Portakabin.
Using a baton they hit both Nathan Ellis and another guard, Wolverhampton University student Syed Hussain, and tied them up. They then went into the warehouse and stole goods from 18,000 pallets of electrical goods.
CCTV footage was seized from the raid and an eagle-eyed police officer, Pc Andrew Barnsley, recognised Christian Ellis.
The Ellises, who are not related, were charged with robbery after a balaclava and baton were found at their home in Woodend Road, Wednesfield.
A jury found them guilty after a six day trial.
Mr Qureshi jailed Christian Ellis for 10 years and Nathan Ellis for nine years.
The rest of the gang has never been found.
