Robber jailed for raid on bookies

5:40pm Tuesday 24th June 2008

A man has been jailed indefinitely for robbing a betting shop at gunpoint and threatening a police officer.

Christopher Ameyaw, 22, of Bowes Road, Bounds Green used the gun to intimidate staff into handing over the day's takings at a William Hill bookmakers, in Wembley, on February 13.

As he made his escape he was stopped by plain clothed police officers, who he threatened to shoot if they did not let him escape.

At the Old Bailey last Thursday, Ameyaw pleaded guilty to committing armed robbery alongside accomplices Andre Maynard, 21, of Mostyn Avenue, and Kaland Patterson, 28, of Roundtree Road, both from Wembley.

On Friday he was handed an indeterminate prison sentence, of which he must serve a minimum of ten years.

Ameyaw also pleaded guilty to charges of possessing a firearm with intent to resist arrest and the robbery of another William Hill bookmakers, on February 4, in Greenford Road, Greenford.

Maynard and Patterson were jailed for eight and seven years respectively for their part in the Wembley robbery.

The court heard how the three men, dressed in dark hoods, had gone to the bookmakers in Heather Park Road at about 8.40pm.

They approached the main counter where Maynard pulled out a handgun concealed in a sock, and pointed it directly at a male manager and female cashier behind a security screen.

Ameyaw used the base of his handgun to smash through a nearby glass door and barged into the staff quarters where he demanded the takings.

The staff quickly surrendered cash from the tills.

The men then fled, but were being watched by undercover police officers, as part of Operation Crownmere, a surveillance operation by officers from Finchley Flying Squad.

Maynard and Patterson were arrested by armed officers as they attempted to flee in a red Volkswagen Polo parked 100 yards from the scene of the robbery.

Ameyaw, who escaped on foot with the stolen cash and handgun, was disarmed and arrested following a violent struggle with officers in Heather Park Road.

Since the incident, both betting shop workers have been transferred to other branches because of trauma they suffered during the incident.

Shop manager Rohan Fodagar said: "Nobody really wants to work here anymore.

"Getting held up at gun point is a hard thing to deal with.

"The shop is stuck out here in the middle of nowhere, with just a small off licence nearby. It is scary."

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