Armed robber jailed for half-million pound Gleneagles jewellers robbery

The 39-year-old, along with two others, left staff terrified when they stole 50 Rolex watches from the five star hotel in Perthshire on the 27th June 2017.

None of the watches have been recovered.

Jones, his step-brother Liam Richardson and Richard Fleming escaped with the haul worth £516,750.

Fleming, was handed 15 years with a further 3 under supervision last year, while Richardson was sentenced to 11 years and four months back in 2018.

The weekend before Fleming's trial at the High Court in Edinburgh police discovered that the third man, Jones, had boarded a flight from Turkey bound for Brazil.

The Brazilian authorities were contacted and he was detained as he disembarked from a plane at Sao Paulo airport on August 17 in 2018. He was subsequently extradited back to the UK last year.

Days after the raid he had flown from London to Malaga in Spain and it is believed he then moved on to Morocco before later jetting to South America.

He admitted taking part in the robbery in possession of hammers, a machete and pistol, placing employees Stephen McIvor and Daniel Horne in a state of fear and alarm for their safety, when he appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh today.

Judge Lady Carmichael told Jones: "The robbery was an act of serious, premeditated criminality. It involved significant advance planning with a visit to the hotel some weeks before.

"Criminality of this nature will not be tolerated."

She said: "You removed yourself from the country and as a matter of fact avoided, for a significant period, facing the course of justice for the robbery and there was the necessity for extradition proceedings."

On the day of the raid the gang of three drove to the main entrance of the hotel in an Audi A4 and left the vehicle armed with weapons and shouting.

Jones and Richardson were each carrying weighted hammers that could smash through security glass and Fleming was armed with the gun and machete.

Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC said: "All three men were dressed identically in black, including their gloves. They further concealed their identities with masks covering their faces.

"Jones, as police noted, was wearing his distinctive patterned black and white Nike Cortez training shoes."

The entire raid took place in two minutes before they left in the Audi which was later abandoned.

Defence counsel John Scullion QC said Jones was unemployed and in debt in 2017 when he was introduced to Fleming by Richardson. He added: "He stupidly agreed to participate in this offence."

"Clearly the circumstances of the offence are extremely serious. he acknowledges the incident would have been frightening and distressing for those present," he said

Mr Scullion said that Jones, a father of two, had always intended to return to face proceedings over the robbery.

David Green, Procurator Fiscal for Major Crime and Homicide, said: “Dean Jones was part of a gang that armed themselves and committed a violent robbery in broad daylight.

“This has been a long-running case for the Crown Office and it is thanks to the work of police and prosecutors, working with global law enforcement, that he has been brought back to Scotland to face justice.”

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