Dudley robbers jailed after 16-day crime spree

Mark Rollason and James Taplin, both aged 31, escaped with thousands of pounds worth of cash, cigarettes and alcohol in raids on six shops.

The robbers were variously armed with a knife, hammer or small axe when they burst into the premises wearing either masks or hoods, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

Taplin took part in five raids, three of which were with Rollason. He acted either alone or with an unknown accomplice in the others, explained Mr Andrew Jackson, prosecuting.

In addition to the three robberies in which both took part Rollason also carried out a raid with an unknown associate, the court was told.

Mr Jackson continued: “The two defendants were part of a gang which people dipped in and out of. They were involved a 16 day crime spree.”

Four of the robbed stores were part of the One Stop chain while the rest were Co-op convenience shops. All were in and around the Dudley area.

The two men rushed into the targeted premises during the evening wearing skull and Spiderman masks or hoods, armed with a weapon used to frighten staff and prise open the till after they leapt over the counter.

The two men, clutching a 10 inch knife, escaped with £403 cash from the One Stop in Pensnett on April 22 and took £550 cash together with an unspecified amount of cigarettes and spirits from the chain’s Stourbridge store four days later. A maroon Vauxhall seen in the vacinity of later robberies was spotted close to the scene and later found outside as address being used by Rollason, added Mr Jackson.

Taplin was alone with an oven glove covering part of his face when he struck at the One Stop in Horseley Road, Tipton and snatched £570 from the till on April 29.

Then the duo joined forces to rob the chain’s outlet in Roseville on May 2 of £500 cash and an unknown amount of alcohol and chocolate.

During the raid Taplin dropped a glove from which forensic checks recovered his DNA while Rollason was caught on CCTV at the nearby Coseley Tavern pub shortly after the crime with the skull mask worn during the robbery on the top of his head. The two men later booked a taxi to Taplin’s home address.

These blunders, and the recovery of the shop till they carried away from the scene, gave police vital information in their hunt for the culprits.

On May 5 Rollason and an unknown accomplice took £250 from the till of a Co-op branch in Stourbridge and three days later Taplin, wearing the Spiderman mask, escaped with a haul of unknown value from the chain’s Brierley Hill branch.

The two men were arrested on May 12 when clothing, masks and bags used during the raids were found.

Each had a string of previous convictions and a Class A drug problem accentuated by domestic problems. “This sent both on a downward spiral into this offending,” said Mr Lewis Perry defending.

Taplin from Hawthorn Road, Tipton admitted five robberies while Rollason of Albionfield Drive, West Bromwich pleaded guilty to four. Both admitted possession of an offensive weapon. Taplin was jailed for eight years and Rollason was given a jailed for six year seven months.