Five men jailed for £300,000 jewellery shop raid in Birmingham
They have been jailed for a combined total of more than 72 years
Last updated 13th Mar 2023
Five men have been sentence today (13 March) for carrying out a daytime raid at a Birmingham jewellers stealing 4-5 kilos of 22 carat gold jewellery worth nearly £300,000.
The robbers stole jewellery from Danyaal Jewellers in Sparkbrook after smashing a stolen Toyota Hilux into the front of the shop on March 3 last year.
Three of the men armed with a sledgehammer then went inside, smashing their way into two display cabinets, and began stashing jewellery in bags while the fourth man remained in the Hilux and a fifth man acted as 'crowd control' waving an axe at witnesses.
Footage of the raid was caught on Danyaal Jewellers own CCTV while mobile phone footage taken by members of the public also captured the dramatic raid.
Five men were found guilty of conspiracy to rob and possessing an offensive weapon following a four-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court on 22 February.
Both John Gourlay, aged 49, from Selly Oak and Arfan Latif, aged 38, from Balsall Heath have been jailed for 16 years. Trevor Leek, aged 44 from Kingstanding was jailed for 14 years and six months.
Justin Boylan, aged 51 from Shard End, was jailed for 14 years and Hassan Zulfiqar, aged 26, also from Balsall Heath, was jailed for 12 years.
The gang used three vehicles during the raid, which included a black Land Rover Discovery, a white Toyota Hilux and a black Toyota Corolla.
The Land Rover and Toyota Corolla was used to block the road either side of the jewellers while the Hilux reversed into the store.
A staff member was in the store at the time of the offence and was nearly struck by falling debris when the Toyota Hilux reversed into the shop.
All five men then made off in the Land Rover and Hilux, with the Toyota Corolla being left at the scene.
CCTV footage captured them abandoning the vehicles on King Street, Sparkbrook, before getting into a stolen Audi TTS and BMW 420 they had parked there less than an hour prior.
DC Patrick Fuldun, from the Force Priorities Team, said: “This was clearly an extensively planned armed robbery, with careful thought by the five defendants going into disguising themselves, the vehicles and the locations of their phones.
“This robbery took place in broad daylight, on a busy street, and must have been horrendous for anyone witnessing it. The staff member inside narrowly escaped serious injury, if not worse.
“The offenders managed to make off with nearly £300,000 in jewellery. However, after excellent investigative work from our officers we were able to provide sufficient evidence for the jury to convict all five men for being present during the raid. We are delighted that all five have been convicted. It is a testament to the tenacity of officers at West Midlands Police and a firm deterrent to criminals considering a similar crime.”