Two violent robbers who used an axe, shotgun and a baseball bat to terrify Halesowen and Dudley jewellery shop staff have been jailed for 14 years.


Martin Young and Carlus Walker raided the John Hollins shop in Dudley and John Brooks in Halesowen during a one day crime spree which netted them over £13,000.
 

Jailing the pair Judge Amjad Nawaz said frightened staff members feared for their lives during the ordeal and "they had no way of knowing what would happen to them next."
 

He said the two shops both operated an open door policy and that enabled Martin Young and Carlus Walker to get into the shops while they were carrying an imitation double barrelled shotgun, an axe and a baseball bat.
 

The two men went into the John Hollins shop in Wolverhampton Street, Dudley where 53-year-old Elaine De Akinbothum and Lynne Willetts, aged 59, were having their lunch in a backroom.
 

Young was carrying the shotgun which they believed was a real weapon and he was aggressive as he ordered them not to move while Walker emptied display trays containing £12,000 worth of jewellery.
 

The two women were left feeling extremely "frightened, shocked and dazed", said Mr David Lees prosecuting with both men later being identified from CCTV footage.
 

Walker had earlier gone into John Brooks jewellery shop in Halesowen with a second man and they were armed with the axe and baseball bat.
 

Mr Books who was 68 was having lunch with his 65-year-old assistant Sheila Lester when Walker suddenly appeared and he was holding the axe over his head.
 

The second man threatened Mrs Lester with the baseball bat and he told her he would "cave her head in" before Mr Brooks had his hands tied up and an effort was then made to tie the woman's legs with a length of wire.
 

The robbers demanded, "Where's all the money?" before snatching £1,500 in cash and jewellery valued at up to £12,000, Mr Lees told Wolverhampton Crown Court.
 

He said 19-year-old Walker was arrested after he left the axe behind at the scene and he was traced through DNA testing.
 

Walker of Milverton Road, Coventry admitted robbing the two shops and also being in possession of the imitation firearm and he was sent to a Young Offenders Institution for 6 years.
 

Young, 41, of Frevil Road, Coventry admitted robbing Hollins Jewellers and possessing the imitation firearm - it was two black tubes tied together with insulating tape - and he was jailed for eight years.
 

Mr John Attwood defending Walker said he had acted "totally out of character" and it was clear he had been influenced by the older, more experienced Young.
 

Mr Gareth Morley defending Young who was on licence at the time from a seven year prison sentence for robbery having been jailed for 10 years for an earlier robbery said he needed money to clear a drug debt to his heroin dealer.
 

The Judge told the two men the robberies had clearly been planned addding that all the victims had been damaged psychologically by their actions.