Shropshire Star

Bank raid terror still being felt by workers

It took Martin Dawson only 30 seconds to rob a Shropshire bank of just under £8,000 with an imitation firearm. But the terror he brought to staff at the Newport branch of the Britannia is still being felt more than a year later.

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One is on long-term sick leave and witness impact statements given in court told of the "distress, upset and, in some cases, long term psychological effects" of facing a gunman.

Today Dawson is spending his first full day back behind bars after being handed a life sentence – his second such term – for carrying out armed raids in Newport and Cheshire while on the run from prison.

Stafford Crown Court judge Mrs Justice Thirlwall told the former soldier he is a "danger to the public" and will have to serve a minimum term of nine years.

Four staff members were left in shock when the 51-year-old, of no fixed address, calmly walked in to their branch in Newport High Street on June 29 last year wearing sunglasses and armed with a realistic-looking imitation handgun. "Put the money in the bag," he ordered a cashier. "If you don't give me the money, I'll shoot you."

Judge Thirwell said: "The effect on the women cashers (at Newport) was profound. One of them is still on long-term sick leave. You knew this was likely because you had committed robberies before and you didn't care."

Staff at the branch said they were not able to comment on the case today, but a spokesman for the Co-operative Bank said: "We are pleased with the outcome of the trial and would like to thank the police for their thorough investigation."

West Mercia Police Inspector Dafydd Jones said: "I hope this sentencing shows West Mercia Police's priority of protecting people from harm and bringing offenders to justice.

"Dawson was a danger to the public and it is a great result that he is now behind bars.

"I would like to take the opportunity to thank the witnesses involved in this case who had to relive this distressing event."

Town politicians and business leaders today paid tribute to staff at the branch – which is now part of the Co-operative Bank – for their bravery. Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard, whose constituency covers the town, said: "Newport is still a safe place to live and work. This robbery shocked the town and I am glad justice has been served."

Tony Forrester, Newport's mayor, added: "He put the staff at Britannia in great fear. It took them a long time to get over it.

"We have had people saying this is a safe place to live and we do not get much crime here, but this incident proved we are vulnerable just like everybody else."

Patrick Beech, chairman of Newport's Chamber of Commerce, said: "People in the town were shocked when the Britannia incident happened. The Chamber of Commerce was concerned and I was particularly concerned for the Britannia staff. I went in and spoke to them and they were shocked. People and businesses do still feel safe here, though."

The branch of the Britannia bank in Newport

Video footage of the Newport robbery was featured on the July episode of TV's Crimewatch programme and shortly afterwards police had a name for the suspect. It came from ex-con John Deeds, a fraudster who knew Dawson from their time together in Sudbury.

But Dawson's whereabouts remained a mystery and there was a second Crimewatch appeal on October 14, naming Dawson as the prime suspect.

The following day police got a tip-off and Dawson was arrested in Stoke-on-Trent. His life on the run was later pieced together, although parts still remain unknown. He had rented a room in Lockett Street, Stoke-on-Trent although he fled from there the night of the second Crimewatch programme.

Days later, the Borough Arms hotel in Newcastle-under-Lyme reported one of their "guests" was missing – Dawson had booked in under an assumed name and among his possessions left behind was a silver BB handgun. Under questioning, Dawson accepted he was an escapee but refused to say where he had been and where he had got money to buy a motorcycle.

During a seven-day trial at Stafford Crown Court, the jury heard that Dawson had been convicted at Chester Crown Court in July 1993 of six armed robberies. In October 2000, Dawson was jailed again at Manchester Crown Court for a string of gunpoint bank robberies. This time the sentence was life imprisonment, although by last year he was in the open prison at Sudbury. He absconded on June 24, five days before the Newport robbery.

Dawson denied three charges of robbery, one at Newport and two of cashiers at Macclesfield, and two charges of possessing an imitation firearm while committing robbery. But the jury on Thursday took just over an hour to convict him and he was sentenced yesterday.

Prosecutor Miss Cathlyn Orchard said during the trial: "Martin Dawson is a professional and career bank robber and, having escaped from custody, he very swiftly returned to the life he had led before his custodial sentence."

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