A gang of armed robbers has been jailed for 62 years

Emmet

Three men were sentenced today, Friday 2 November, at Inner London Crown Court to a total of 62 years for a string of armed robberies dating back to 2000.
During their reign the gang netted more than half a million pounds in cash.
On 11 October all three defendants pleaded guilty to a combination of offences relating to robbery, conspiracy to rob, and firearms offences.
[A] Emmet Wynne, 48 (13.6.64), unemployed, of Wilmar Gardens, West Wickham, was sentenced to 20 years.
[B] Robert Hall, 48 (25.6.64), unemployed, of Lupus Court , Grange Road SE19, was sentenced to 22 years.
[D] Ian Knight, 51 (3.8.61), unemployed, of Adare Walk, Streatham SW16, was sentenced to 20 years.
A six-month-long, intelligence-led operation by the Flying Squad based at Tower Bridge finally caught the team red-handed as they prepared to rob a Santander bank in North Cheam on 15 February.
The team got spooked when a fire was started by youths in the street nearby and they aborted the robbery and drove back to the changeover car, a stolen Audi A6 estate they had parked not far from the bank.
Wynne got into the Audi estate and Hall and Knight remained in a stolen VW Bora. Police pounced shortly afterwards, capturing Wynne and Hall but Knight managed to flee the scene.
Inside Wynne's man bag was a loaded Walther PPK pistol. He also had a Taser, five rounds of live ammunition, a mobile phone jamming device and a lock knife on him; as well as a latex 'old man' style mask similar to those worn in other robberies.
Hall had a loaded .38 revolver on him, as well as a flick knife, 18 rounds of ammunition, gloves and a green balaclava.
Inside the VW Bora, police found an orange angle grinder, various cable ties and large checked laundry bags - all items used in previous robberies.
Knight was arrested one week later on 23 February.
The gang targeted cash-in-transit guards as they made night time deliveries to banks to refill cash machines. They would lay in wait and as the guards were loading up the ATMs, they would strike, forcing the guards at gun point to lie on the ground, sometimes binding their wrists with cable ties. An angle grinder was often used to remove the cash cassettes from the cash till.
Their preferred method was to break into the branch, then lay in wait until the guards arrived during the night.
The gang were highly organised, often looking at a number of different targets at the same time, and planning the job meticulously doing reconnaissance for anything up to 6 months before carrying out the robbery. They favoured Audis and VWs as their
getaway vehicles. Having stolen them months beforehand in house burglaries, they would move them regularly to different locations so people didn't become suspicious.
Wynne was a family man who lived in a semi-detached house in a quiet residential street in West Wickham, South London. He had a van and did a little bit of carpentry. During the day he would walk his dog but at night he spent his time casing banks to rob.
DCI Paul Johnson, Tower Bridge Flying Squad, said: "This was a well organised team of armed robbers whose meticulous planning and otherwise normal lives managed to keep them under the radar for so many years.
"If it hadn't been for the tenacity of my officers, this team would have continued to carry out armed robberies for many more years to come. I am delighted with today's result."
+ A fourth man arrested in connection with the investigation [C] was subsequently released no further action.