Two cars, a wall and a house: Robbery getaway car leaves trail of destruction
A getaway car smashed into two other vehicles, demolished a wall and struck a house after careering out of control as raiders fled from a robbery, a judge was told.
The Seat went into a spin as driver Mohammed Raheem, 20, overtook a car at high speed while being pursued by police, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
Minutes earlier his front seat passenger Abdullah Velmurugathasan, also 20, had viciously attacked and robbed businessman Mr Marouf Hussain of £3,000 cash outside the West Bromwich branch of the HSBC bank, revealed Mr Edward Soulsby, prosecuting.
The victim was carrying the money in an Asda supermarket bag when the thug struck shortly before noon on December 17, it was said.
Mr Soulsby continued: "Mr Hussain was struck from behind with something heavy and punched at least four times to the ground by Velmurugathasan who then snatched the bag and ran to a waiting car that was driven by Raheem."
Members of the public took photographs of the Seat and noted its registration number before giving the details to police when they arrived at the scene.
Officers caught up with the fleeing crooks in Soho Road, Handsworth and there was a short chase before Raheem lost control and crashed.
Mr Soulsby explained: "As he overtook another vehicle the Seat went into a spin, hitting a parked car before crashing into a second car, a wall and the side of a house.
"Velmurugathasan got out and ran off but was arrested after a short chase during which he threw away what appeared to be a bag of money. Raheem stayed with the car and admitted being the driver."
Velmurugathasan was armed with a knife but nobody saw it produced during the robbery.
One of the empty vehicles hit by the getaway car was written off and over £2,300 of the stolen money was recovered. It is unclear what happened to the balance.
Mr Mohammed Naser, representing Velmurugathasan, who had previous convictions for robbery and other violent crime, told the court: "He got involved because he was strapped for cash."
Mr Gurdeep Garcha, for Raheem, who had no convictions, observed: "He was mixing with a malign influence, somebody who was criminally sophisticated, but went into this with his eyes open. These were not premier league robbers.
"They were operating at the lower end of the second division."
Velmurugathasan from Arthur Road, Small Heath admitted robbery and possession of a knife and was sent to a Young Offenders Institution for four years.
Raheem of Hales Lane, Smethwick pleaded guilty to robbery and received two and a half years detention.
