Jewellery-raid gunmen snared by air-lock trap

Two gunmen who got trapped in an air-lock as they tried to flee from a bungled raid on a Black Country jewellers were today behind bars facing long jail sentences.

Fire crews spent 10 minutes freeing Sandeep Singh and Sandeep Kumar from between the two doors - and police immediately arrested them for armed robbery.

The pair had become trapped inside Jai Jewellers in Cape Hill, Smethwick, after a smoke device was activated by staff.

Singh, aged 27, aimed his pistol at a window overlooking a main street filled with shoppers. But the weapon jammed when the trigger was pulled forcing the desperate duo to try to shatter the plate glass with chairs.

They battered a hole in the window but it was not large enough to climb through and passers-by tried to block their escape route by pulling down the shutters.

The men managed to fumble through the fog of white smoke blanketing the room to find the button that released the first of two doors leading to the street.

This locked behind the raiders as they went through only to find that they could not open the next one leaving them imprisoned in the air-lock between the two doors.

Emergency services arrived soon afterwards and firefighters cut away the outer door to allow armed police to arrest the robbers who had posed as customers to enter the shop at around 3.30pm on November 10.

The two men looked at rings and asked owner Deepak Gogna the value of a gold tie pin but had drawn guns by the time he and his wife returned to the counter after checking the item.

Mr Gogna managed to activate the 'cloaking' security device as the couple were bundled towards the rear of the shop where they managed to lock themselves in a back room. The raiders were left marooned in the shop which was rapidly filling with smoke.

The robbery came less than a month after a similar attack on Dulhan Jewellers in Palfrey, Walsall, on October 13, where only Singh was involved.

He appeared to be a customer and was allowed into the premises where he pulled out a handgun and pistol-whipped owner Waheed Ahmad before opening the security doors for up to five masked men.

The men burst in armed with hammers and axes which were used to smash display cabinets that were emptied into laundry bags. The gang escaped with around £96,000 worth of jewellery in a stolen transit van. Nothing has been recovered.

Another transit van was captured on CCTV parked outside Jai Jewellers during the bungled raid. It was driven away when it became obvious that the two robbers were not coming out and later found abandoned nearby.

Distinctively-coloured laundry bags like those used to carry away jewellery from the earlier raid were found inside the dumped vehicle that had no registered owner.

Singh and Kumar, both of Chantry Road, Handsworth, yesterday each pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and possessing a firearm at Jai Jewellers.

Singh also admitted robbery at Dulhan Jewellers and possessing an imitation firearm.

They were both remanded in custody at Wolverhampton Crown Court until February 18 when they will be sentenced following the preparation of reports.

Det Con Jason Moseley, who was involved in the police inquiry, said today: "Both offences were very violent and must have been terrifying for the parties concerned. Those involved in the crimes had no regard for public safety.

"Mr Gogna and his wife both showed considerable bravery and were instrumental in the capture of the offenders."

Police are continuing the hunt for others involved in both attacks and anybody with information that could help with the inquiry are asked to ring 0345 1135000 and ask for Force CID at Rose Road, Harborne.

The Express & Star recently revealed armed robbers and burglars have targeted jewellers in the West Midlands more than 100 times in the past five years, netting well over £1 million of valuables in the Black Country alone.

Twenty-eight were targeted in 2009/10, double the number targeted in the previous year.

Sandwell was named as the worst hit of the Black Country boroughs, with eight raids since 2005/06.

There were eight raids in Wolverhampton during the same period, nine in Dudley and six in Walsall.

Birmingham, with its famous Jewellery Quarter, Solihull, and Coventry accounted for the remaining raids.

Jewellers in Wolverhampton had £574,288 worth of items stolen, while in Sandwell the figure was £269,912.

In Dudley it was £178,320 and in Walsall, £41,220 - giving a total for the Black Country of £1,063,740.