Jew World Order

• Thugs swung a sledgehammer at the pensioner who tried to stop them
• Michael Graver grabbed a bag containing £22,000 worth of watches from the robbers
• Hero says he would ‘do it again’ if he had to

By
Anna Edwards

PUBLISHED:

04:36 EST, 31 July 2012

|

UPDATED:

05:57 EST, 31 July 2012

Heroic: Michael Graver said he would do the same again if he had to

A fearless grandfather of 71 who thwarted an armed jewellery robbery by a vicious London gang has seen them sentenced to 36 years in prison.

Michael Graver, said he hoped thugs would now think twice about targeting Suffolk after the five criminals were locked up yesterday.

Mr Graver spoke out as George Paget, 20, Dean Armstrong, 21, Dwayne Marsh, 34, Charlie Kavanagh, 21, and Jed Macdonald, 22, were jailed for a total of 36 years.

The father-of-three was out shopping with his wife Penny when the smash and grab gang roared up on scooters outside Thurlow Champness in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

The brave retired businessman pushed one of the crooks and confronted another inside the jewellers, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Mr Graver even managed to snatch a bag containing £22,000 worth of watches from the fleeing raiders, who swung a sledgehammer at him and punched him in the face as they fled.

Judge David Goodin yesterday paid tribute to the pensioner’s ‘commendable fortitude and bravery’ and awarded him £500.

Last night Mr Graver, of Bury St Edmunds, said he hoped his courage would warn off robbers.

‘I very much hope this will put the criminals off,’ he said.

‘Everyone we know is getting tired of villains coming up the A12 and M11 to target Suffolk,’ he said.

‘They think we’re an easy touch but I hope they’ll think twice now.’

Speaking about the drama of February last year, Mr Graver said he leapt into action after the raiders narrowly missed his wife as they stormed into the jewellers.

Scroll down for video

Danger: This is the moment Mr Graver comes face to face with one of the jewel thieves as he tries to flee

Battle: The pensioner grapples with a helmeted, sledgehammer waving robber as he shops with his wife

Thug: The robber then swings for Mr Graver (bottom right of picture) as he tries to make his escape

‘I was really quite annoyed because these guys came on scooters and they nearly hit my wife.

‘She was walking with a stick at the time because she had fallen on the ice a few weeks before.

‘They did not slow down and nearly hit her. I was really mad. We were in the middle of it all, and we couldn’t not be involved.’

Mr Graver described how he charged into the shop after one of the scooters pulled up alongside him  and he tried to push them over.

As they stormed the shop and began raiding it, he followed them in, despite his wife pleasing with im not to, and was confronted by a raider.

The brute was wielding a sledgehammer in one hand and a bag stuffed with Rolex watches in the other.

After Mr Graver grabbed the bag of watches the raider jumped on a scooter and fled.

He said: ‘The police said the CCTV footage of it was like a cartoon.

‘One moment he’s got the bag and the next he hasn’t and he’s doing a double take as he gets on the scooter.

‘People
were standing round on their mobile phones and we just stood there in
the doorway waiting for a uniformed officer to give this bag to.’

Mr Graver said the gang was stunned by ‘doddering old pensioners having a go’.

Dwayne Marsh (left) was joined by Dean Armstrong (right) in the violent robbery, and have both been jailed

Locked up: Charlie Kavanagh (left and George Paget (right) are now both behind bars for their crime

Jed Macdonald, one of the raiders, is seen here.

‘If I was in the same situation I’m sure I would do it again,’ he said.

‘Although if I had been further away and had time to think about it I might not have got involved.’

Mark Baker and off duty policeman PC Joseph Mullett were also awarded £500 each for their bravery.

Mr Baker chased the robbers as they made their getaway and swung at them with a bag.

He tried to block the path of another scooter and was hit on the hand with a sledgehammer by the passenger.

Some of the gang also targeted a jewellers in Ipswich, Suffolk.

Judge Goodin said PC Mullett was off duty when he saw the robbery at Goldsmiths jewellers in Ipswich and had tried to stop one of the motorcyclists escaping.

Jailing the gang, Judge Goodin described the two robberies as ‘carefully planned and violent’.

Both times the villains sped up on stolen motorcycles and used sledgehammers or an axe to smash display cabinets containing expensive watches.

The robbers snatched £78,000 worth of Rolex and Omega watches at Goldsmiths jewellers in Ipswich in June 2011 ‘ and caused £20,000 of damage to the shop.

PC Mullett, who was off duty, lunged at a motorcyclist outside the store.

The officer had to jump out of the way after a bike was driven at him at high speed.

Robbers George Paget, Dean Armstrong, Dwayne Marsh, Charlie Kavanagh, and Jed Macdonald are all from London.

Paget
and Armstrong both admitted conspiracy to commit robbery at Thurlow
Champness and Goldsmiths and each got nine years behind bars.

Kavanagh and Macdonald admitted conspiracy to commit robbery at Thurlow Champness and were each jailed for six years.

Giving chase: The pensioner is seen here running after the gang, determined to stop them

Never giving up: Mr Graver is seen in the top right of the frame refusing to let go of one one of the thieves

Trying top get away: Two robbers, one still holding his sledgehammer, run from the scene

Another hero: A passer-by chases the gang as they try to make their escape, trying to hit one with his rucksack

Marsh had denied conspiracy to commit robbery at Thurlow Champness but was convicted after a trial at Ipswich Crown Court in May and was jailed for six years.

Earlier this year three men who were involved in the Goldsmiths robbery on June 15 with Paget and Armstrong were jailed for a total of 29 years.

Benjamin Murphy, 26, of Loughton, Essex, Danny O’Bryan, 22, of Bulpin, near Thurrock, Essex, and Charles Onyemelukwe, 24, of Camden, north London, had denied conspiracy to commit robbery but were found guilty after a trial.

Murphy was jailed for 11 years and O’Bryan and Onyemelukwe each got nine years.

Andrew Shaw, prosecuting, yesterday praised sharp-eyed residents who contacted police after spotting the getaway motors used in the Goldsmiths robbery in Ipswich.

He said eye-witnesses also recorded the hit-and-run robbery on their mobiles.

Mr Shaw said: ‘But for them some of these men wouldn’t have been caught.’

Simon Hancock, for Armstrong, said he had bought sledgehammers for the raids and had driven one of the getaway vehicles to Ipswich.

Tana Adkin, defending Paget, said he was the youngest of the robbers and had a baby.

Bridget Irving, for Marsh, said he had hired the van used in the Thurlow Champness robbery and had used his own credit card to pay for it.

Bruce Clarke, for Kavanagh, said he had driven one of the vehicles to Bury St Edmunds.

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