Smethwick robber snared by police after wrestling cash from delivery driver
A robber, who wrestled a cash box from a deliver driver, was caught by police after using his own Renault Clio as the getaway car.
After Ryan Kirk fled the scene of the robbery, a quick-thinking passerby wrote down the car registration.
Police were then able to trace it back to the 31-year-old, of Bush Avenue, Smethwick, who was arrested the same day.
He has now been jailed for seven years after being found guilty of robbery following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
The cash van driver was making a delivery at One Stop in Jiggins Lane, Bartley Green when Kirk pounced on February 28 last year, wrestling the cash box off him.
Leaving the scene in his white Renault Clio, driven by a second and unknown man, Kirk then tried to get into the stolen box by driving over it.
When that method proved unsuccessful, he dumped the box and the car in nearby Trimpley Road.
Kirk, described by police as a 'career criminal' with previous convictions for robbery and burglary, had denied he had any involvement in the theft of the cash box when he was arrested later that day.
But the jury disagreed following a trial in February and Kirk was sentenced to seven years behind bars at a hearing on Thursday last week.
DS Mark Langley has welcomed the sentence, saying he hoped it would be a deterrent for others.
He also said that the cash boxes were difficult to open meaning robbers had more chances of being caught by police than getting away with any money.
"Kirk is a career criminal with previous form for robbery and burglary.
"We are satisfied with the lengthy sentence handed to him, which sees him taken off the streets of Birmingham for the foreseeable future.
"This is the second case in the space of a week which demonstrates the fruitless efforts of criminals in targeting cash delivery drivers: understandably, the cash boxes are extremely difficult to get into while the chances of getting caught and the sentences handed down by the courts are very high.
"I hope the sentence handed to Kirk deters others from getting involved in such crimes and that the public are reassured another dangerous criminal is now behind bars," he added.
