Three men who attacked cashiers with claw hammers and knives during a “terrifying” masked robbery at an east London bank have been jailed.
The trio burst into Lloyds in Commercial Road, Tower Hamlets, brandishing a claw hammer and knives, the Old Bailey heard.
They demanded cash and slashed one male staff member in the face, during the attack in March.
One of the attackers held a knife to a female cashier’s throat and forced her to the floor.
She was also stabbed in the face, the court was told.
The men failed to get their hands on any cash and fled with a fistful of Lloyds Bank correspondence.
Tariq Ahmed, 21, Mohammed Khan, 19, and Junaid Hassan, 24, all from Tower Hamlets pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob at the same court in April.
Amhed, of Vesey Path, and Hussan, of Saracen Street, were both jailed for nine years on Friday.
Khan, of Mackrow Walk, was handed eight years behind bars.
Detective Constable Brad Weston from the Flying Squad, said: “This was an audacious armed robbery and a terrifying ordeal for staff at the bank, two of whom sustained facial knife injuries.”
“Thanks to the swift action of both the bank staff and the police, the men were quickly apprehended and identified as the culprits.”
“The sentences handed down reflect the seriousness of the offence and will hopefully act as a deterrent to others intent on committing such abhorrent crimes.”
l A US citizen who was extradited to the UK to stand trial has been jailed over a violent rape he committed 20 years ago.
Pierre Antoine Bate, 42, of Maricopa Drive, Santa Barbara, broke into a woman’s south London home and raped her as her children slept in a room next door, Southwark Crown Court heard.
He was locked-up for 24 years during sentencing at the same court on Friday.
Bate told his terrified victim another man was in her children’s bedroom, during the attack, in Thornton Heath, in July 1996 The convicted rapist placed his arm across her throat as he carried out the attack and indecently assaulted her several times over a period of one-and-a-half hours.
After he fled, Bate’s victim called the police.
Detectives investigating the crime managed to recover a partial DNA profile, but at the time it was not enough to identify a suspect.
However, in 2011 a forensic review of the investigation was conducted, and material taken at the time was examined using enhanced DNA techniques.
As a result, a new DNA profile was obtained which linked Bate to the crime when it was compared against the national DNA database.
Bate was extradited from America on February 23 this year to face trial.
He was found guilty of rape and burglary with intent to rape by a jury on July 29.
The court heard Bate had previously been convicted of another sexual offence committed in Kentish Town in 1995 and had been extradited from the US to the UK in 2008 for a trial.
He jailed for 26 months but returned to the US upon his release.
Detective sergeant Karen Bradley said: “The victim has shown huge courage in supporting our investigation and the court case, after a vicious and prolonged attack in her home with her children asleep close by.”
“I would appeal for any victims of sexual assault to come forward safe in the knowledge they will be listened to and have their allegations fully investigated.”
“We are committed to bringing perpetrators of rape and sexual offences to justice.”
l A serial robber who climbed into a lone woman’s car as she pulled away from traffic lights at night has been jailed.
Simon Boswell, from Gillingham, opened the door of the victim’s car as she sat at a red light in the town in May.
The 34-year-old opened the door of the car and snatched at the woman’s bag just before 10pm.
As he tried to wrestle it away from her, the lights turned green and Boswell climbed into the car as the woman sped off, Maidstone Crown Court heard.
The woman eventually pulled over and ordered Boswell to get out.
He fled with the bag which contained her purse and a tablet computer.
Three days letter Boswell struck again in the forecourt of a petrol station, where he jumped a man and stole his wallet which contained £40 in cash.
His second victim was treated in hospital for cuts and bruises.
Boswell, of Winchester Way, admitted two counts of robbery at the same court and was jailed for three years and four months on Friday.
Detective Constable Ian Mather, from Kent Police, branded Boswell an “opportunistic thief” who needs “no invitation to take items that do not belong to him”. He added that the man was “equally at home robbing a man on a petrol forecourt as he is climbing into a woman’s car while she is driving alone at night.”
Junaid Hassan, Tariq Ahmed and Mohammed Khan have been jailed over a violent robbery at Lloyds bank in Tower Hamlets.
