Knife held to baby's throat in terrifying robbery at grandmother's Coventry home - The Coventry Observer

Knife held to baby's throat in terrifying robbery at grandmother's Coventry home

Coventry Editorial 15th Jul, 2019   0

THREE men who took part in a terrifying robbery when a Stanley knife was held to the throat of a baby in a bid to force his mother to reveal a safe combination have been jailed.

A judge heard that when the gang finally accepted that neither of the two women in the house knew the combination, they ripped the safe from the wall and made their get-away.

The four men pleaded guilty to robbing the baby’s 71-year-old grandmother of the safe and its contents after bursting into her Coventry home.

And at Warwick Crown Court, Gregory Crockett (24) of Friary Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, who also admitted charges of handling stolen cars, was jailed for a total of 12 years.




Daniel McKain (29) Southwick Tower, London, whose attempt to change his plea was rejected at an earlier hearing, was jailed for 11 years; and Joshua Juggan (25) of Alvey Street, Southwark, London, for 10 years.

Sentence on the fourth man, Malik Ragnatt (22) of Bensham Lane, Croydon, was adjourned because he had not been brought from the prison where he has been held on remand.


Prosecutor Raj Punia said that on June 18 last year they targeted a house in Chiswick Close, Coventry, where they robbed a 71-year-old woman and her daughter-in-law of cash and jewellery.

“They were threatened with at least one knife, and their hands were bound with black tape by the defendants who wore face-covering and high-viz jackets.”

The women’s ordeal, and that of two young children, began when the 71-year-old was on her way into the four-bedroom house after hanging out washing in the back garden at 10.30am.

The four men came into the garden and rushed into the house, grabbing her by the shoulders and forcing her down onto a chair where she was bound with black tape.

Her 35-year-old daughter-in-law, who was inside with her nine-month-old son on her lap, was also bound, and her three-year-old daughter was ordered to stand in the corner of the room.

While two of the men were detaining the terrified women, the other two searched the house from top to bottom for the safe, which they believed held a very large sum of cash.

“They found the safe under the stairs and demanded the combination while holding a Stanley knife to the baby’s neck.”

It was not known which of the four was using the knife, but he threatened the baby’s terrified mother: “If you don’t tell me, I’ll cut his neck, I’ll kill your baby.”

Neither woman knew the combination, and after repeatedly being told that, the gang managed to rip the safe from the wall and ran from the house to Juggan’s car parked nearby.

A neighbour who saw them raised the alarm, and when the police arrived they released the older woman, whose daughter-in-law had just managed to free herself.

Having escaped with the safe, which contained £4,000 in cash and wedding sets of Indian jewellery belonging to the two women, some of which had been in the family for many years, they took it to a field where they forced it open with a crowbar.

The four then parted, but as Juggan and Ragnatt headed back to London, they were stopped by a police armed response unit and arrested, and in the silver Ford Focus officers found £1,400 of the cash in bundles of £20 notes, but none of the jewellery.

As a result of messages on their phone, the other robbers were identified as Crockett and McKain, and they were also later arrested, said Miss Punia.

When they were interviewed, Juggan admitted taking part, saying he and his cousin Ragnatt had driven from London to visit a relative in Birmingham, where a friend he referred to as B told them of a house where there was a safe said to contain £100,000.

He said the offer was too tantalising to refuse, and he agreed to drive the others there, and that at the house the women were told they were not going to hurt anyone.

Juggan claimed he had stayed in the kitchen and did not see the women being bound or the baby threatened with the knife.

But Ragnatt claimed they had gone to Birmingham to visit a young woman, staying there all the time before heading home – and he denied going to Coventry or taking part in the robbery.

When Crockett was arrested, he was found to have the key to an Audi A3 parked near his home which was on false plates, having been stolen following a burglary in Erdington.

Crockett, who had convictions for robbery as a youth and admitted handling two other stolen cars, denied being involved in the robbery, while McKain made no comment when he was questioned.

Miss Punia pointed out that in a statement, the older woman said: “I was shocked and traumatised by seeing a knife put to my nine-month-old grandson and feared he would be killed.

Fiona Clegg, for Juggan, said: “What is clear is how remorseful he is for what happened. He has a child of roughly the same age and has reflected on how he would feel.

“He had been in full-time employment, but he had started to rack up debts and was told about this job he could take part in, and he saw it as a quick fix to pay off his debts.”

Sophie Murray, for Crockett, said that while in custody he has taken part in a victim awareness course ‘and can see the shock and horror he created on going into that house.’

Suzanne Francis, for McKain, whose previous offences had been in London and the Black Country, said that although he had tried to vacate his plea, he now accepted his involvement, having been pushed into it by Crockett.

“He at no stage believed children would be involved, and was horrified by what happened,” she added.

Jailing the three, Judge Anthony Potter told them: “All of you fall to be sentenced for your role in a terrifying robbery carried out on two women who were on their own and in the presence of two very young children.

“You Mr Juggan, with Mr Ragnatt, travelled up from London and having met up with Mr McKain and Mr Crockett travelled to the address in a quiet suburban area of Coventry.

“Each of you attended intent on committing a serious criminal offence, and each of you knew one of you had a knife and that there was every prospect that that knife would be produced.

“When you found the safe you aggressively demanded the code from the two women. To reinforce the level of violence, one of you took a Stanley knife to the throat of a one-year-old child.

“It takes very little reflection to realise just how traumatic that must have been.”

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