Four jailed for garage robbery

Four men who carjacked a woman near Lancaster in a bid to escape police have been jailed for attempting to steal more than £50,000 during a cash-in-transit robbery in Fleetwood.
Preston Crown Court.  PIC BY ROB LOCKPreston Crown Court.  PIC BY ROB LOCK
Preston Crown Court. PIC BY ROB LOCK

Steven Anderson, 33, of Montserrat Road, Shaun Boardman, 27, of Priory Place, Ashley Hibbert, 22, of Arnold Street and Westley Seddon, 25, of Goldrill Avenue, were sentenced at Preston Crown Court.

Each had pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery at an earlier hearing.

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The four men were jailed following a robbery at the Shell Garage in Hatfield Avenue in Fleetwood on Wednesday, October 14.

Around 7.50am masked men threatened security guards before stealing a substantial amount of cash.

The men escaped in an Audi A5 car which was abandoned in Romney Avenue, Fleetwood, before switching to a white Audi Q7.

The Audi was later spotted on the A6 at Barton, where a man got out of the vehicle and threw an axe at a patrol car. The Audi was then reversed into the same police car before making off at speed.

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A number of motorists on the A6 reported to police their cars had been involved in minor collisions with an Audi, before police received reports of a group of men trying to get into vehicles in stationary traffic on the A6 near to Guy’s Court.

Then in Pilling, a 61-year-old woman was later dragged from her Ford Focus by the men who drove away in her car.

The Focus was found abandoned in the Cabus area shortly afterwards and a subsequent search of the area led to all four men being arrested having been found hiding in some nearby outbuildings.

The money was later recovered by police.

Anderson, Boardman, Hibbert and Seddon were each sentenced to ten years in prison.

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Det Insp Gareth Willis, of Blackpool CID, said: “This was a fast moving sequence of events and it is fortunate that, while distressing for those involved, no-one was injured.

“As the incident progressed we received numerous calls from members of the public providing us with significant information.

“I am extremely grateful for this assistance as it played a crucial part in helping us arrest those responsible and recover all the money that had been stolen.”