Sponsored by
Court hears gang stole watches worth £95,000
A GANG of robbers crashed near Pease Pottage after taking watches worth £95,300 from a jewellery shop in Eastbourne, a court heard.
Aaron King, 18, of Windsor Road, Thornton Heath, denies robbery, possessing a knife, and two counts of handling stolen goods - the two cars used in the getaway.
Eugene Douglas, 22, of Catford Hill, London, admits robbery, but denies dangerous driving and two counts of handling stolen goods.
Anthony McGovern, 23, of no fixed abode, and Donovan Parker-Gordon, 25, from London, admit robbery but deny two counts of handling stolen goods.
A jury at Brighton Law Courts heard that Brufords, in Cornfield Road, was raided on May 29 last year.
Julian Woodbridge, prosecuting, said the gang made off in a VW Golf, which they switched soon afterwards for an Audi A4.
Both cars had been stolen from London and fitted with false number plates.
However, an eyewitness saw the gang getting into the Audi, and it was spotted heading north on the A23 later that morning.
Mr Woodbridge said police gave chase, trying to box the Audi in and force it to stop.
After a 90 mph chase, with the driver trying to escape by swerving onto the hard shoulder and overtaking police cars on the inside, the Audi crashed into the central reservation.
Only one of the watches was recovered – police found it in the pocket of a coat on the back seat of the Audi.
Prosecutors say the rest of the haul was passed to another gang member, who was never caught.
Opening the case on Monday February 22, Mr Woodbridge said the gang of four, all wearing dark clothing and face masks or balaclavas, went into Brufords just after 9.35am.
He said the raiders knocked the shop manager to the floor, smashed open display cases and stole 32 watches.
The manager ushered staff and customers to safety before setting off the store's alarm system.
A sprayer above the main door was set off, marking the gang with 'SmartWater' as they were fleeing.
SmartWater is invisible under normal lighting, but glows under ultraviolet light.
Mr Woodbridge said it was found on all four defendants, and on both of the stolen cars.
Aaron King, the only one of the four to deny involvement in the robbery, claims he was unaware of the raid until moments after it happened. He told police he only accepted a lift with the robbers as he had no other way of returning to his home in London.
King said when his friend, Parker-Gordon, phoned and asked 'do you want to go to the country?' he accepted but did not know of plans to carry out a jewellery heist. After the car he was travelling in stopped in a south London council estate he said he fell asleep. When he awoke it was the middle of the night and the car had pulled up outside a house.
"I looked at the GPS (global positioning system) on my phone and it showed we were in Eastbourne," the court heard.
He said went into a terraced house where about eight men were talking. The court heard how the terraced 'family house' had an 'I love mummy' poster on the wall, photographs of children and a school shirt hanging up on the door.
King said he woke up and at around 8.30am and got in a car with his friend and two other men.
King said he waited in the street only to realise the gang had robbed a jewellers. He said he got into the car in order to get home to London.
The trial continues.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Eastbourne
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -6 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: East
