Gang jailed over ram raid and robbery spree

Mark Lake and Dean Isitt were jailed for 18 and 16 years respectively at Birmingham Crown Court over a lockdown spree of robberies and burglaries

A "ruthless and reckless" gang has been jailed over a series of robberies and burglaries which terrified workers across the West Midlands.

The group destroyed shopfronts in ram raids and armed themselves with crowbars to steal safes and cash machines during the first half of 2020, police said.

Mark Lake, 42, Dean Isitt, 45, Darren Fitzpatrick, 38, and Nicholas Collins, 41, struck in locations including Cannock, Wolverhampton and Birmingham over a 6-month period.

Their crimes saw members of the public "terrorised in their workplaces", Det Con John Marsh of West Midlands Police said.

The four were jailed at Birmingham Crown Court, with a fifth man, John Williamson, 42, given a suspended sentence.

Darren Fitzpatrick, John Williamson and Nicholas Collins were sentenced in connection with the series of what police called "reckless and ruthless raids"

'Staff forced to kneel'

West Midlands Police said the gang's spree of 14 ram raids, robberies and burglaries began on 6 January, 2020, when members stole two Audis in Stoke-on-Trent.

The next day, they used one of the cars to rip out CCTV and steal a safe from a Subway in West Bromwich, then just hours later smashed a hole in a garage on Penn Road, Wolverhampton to steal tools.

The men then moved on to Tipton where they attempted to steal a safe from a money transfer shop before being disturbed by police.

A fortnight later masked gang members armed with crowbars forced staff at a shop on Castle Road West in Oldbury to kneel while they broke into a safe and made off with thousands.

The same month, police said they attempted to take money from a cash machine at Cannock Hospital, before using their van to ram officers as they escaped.

Other crimes outlined by the West Midlands force included a masked raid on a store in Brierley Hill where the gang ripped panic alarms from staff and an armed robbery in Halesowen during which workers were forced into a rear office.

Police released CCTV footage of a raid which destroyed the front of a Walsall Coop, although the gang left empty-handed when a strap dragging an ATM machine broke

On 25 April 2020, Mark Lake escaped officers trying to stop the van he was driving by performing a U-turn and driving the wrong way up the M6 junction seven slip road

He drove for about half a mile in the wrong direction on the hard shoulder before abandoning his vehicle and fleeing on foot.

Officers found scaffolding with straps welded onto the van's chassis to make it easier to rip out cash machines.

In June 2020, Lake, Fitzpatrick and Collins were apprehended in a van in Oldbury after a chase in which Collins, driving, rammed a police vehicle.

Isitt was arrested attempting to flee from his home on Clyde Street, Old Hill.

Police said a van driven the wrong way down a motorway by Lake as he attempted to flee had been reinforced to rip out cash machines

On Monday, Lake, of Westbourne Road, West Bromwich and Isitt, of Bearmore Road, Cradley Heath were jailed for 18 and 16 years respectively for conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to burgle.

Isitt pleaded guilty to the second offence after the jury was sworn in.

Fitzpatrick, of Ashes Road, Oldbury, was handed 13 years for the same offences after pleading guilty.

Collins, of Oldbury Road, West Bromwich, was jailed for seven years eight months for conspiracy to burgle and driving offences.

John Williamson, of Queens Road, Smethwick, was given a 21-month jail sentence, suspended for two years for conspiracy to burgle after pleading guilty.

Police gathered mobile phone evidence, details of vehicle movements and carried out forensic analyses on items left at the scene to build their case against the men.

Det Con John Marsh said: "This was a prolonged series of really serious offending, which saw innocent members of the public terrorised in their workplaces.

"The CCTV released today shows just how ruthless and reckless they were."