Gang found guilty of garage armed robbery plot

Four men have been convicted of plotting an armed robbery in which a Staffordshire garage owner was shot, beaten and stabbed in the back.

Victim Amjad Khan, aged 32, was attacked as he fled from the armed gang trying to steal a £30,000 Porsche and money from his safe at Ikon Bodyz at Astonfields Industrial Estate in Stafford.

A jury ruled yesterday that Alex Ponsonby was a major player in the plot and brothers Sam and Andrew McMullan were also involved, along with Daniel Martin.

All four were found guilty of conspiracy to rob by the Stafford Crown Court jury, while Ponsonby and Martin were convicted of having a firearm with intent.

Ponsonby was further convicted of causing Mr Khan grievous bodily harm with intent and attempting to kidnap him.

Andrew McMullan was cleared of the firearms, grievous bodily harm and attempted kidnap offences.

A fifth defendant, Jake Broadhurst, was found not guilty of all four charges and walked free from court.

Judge Michael Cullum remanded Ponsonby and Martin in custody and bailed the McMullan brothers for sentencing at Birmingham Crown Court next month.

He warned all four that they face "lengthy custodial sentences."

Martin, aged 21, of Sherbourne Street, Birmingham, Ponsonby, 21, of Steelbrook Road, Solihull, Andrew McMullan, 24 and his brother Sam McMullan, 21, both of Oldway Drive, Solihull, and Broadhurst, 20, of Stratford Street, Hockley Heath, all denied a charge of conspiracy to rob.

Broadhurst, Andrew McMullan, Ponsonby and Martin all also denied charges of possessing a firearm with intent, causing Mr Khan grievous bodily harm with intent and attempted kidnap.

Mr Khan and his staff were working late at the garage in October 2009 when two masked men approached him outside. One had a sawn-off shotgun, the other a baseball bat and they demanded the keys to the Porsche.

Initially, Mr Khan thought it was a prank, until he was hit on the head with the bat.

He was dragged back in to the unit where his attackers tried to bind his hands together with tape. There were repeated demands for him to open the safe.