Masked robbers smashed into Nottingham jewellers to steal £166,000 of watches in 'traumatic' robbery

A masked robber struck at two jewellery stores in less than half-an-hour, stealing more than £166,000 of watches. Nottingham Crown Court heard how Luke Boden stood guard at the door of long-established family-run firm Cope’s in the city centre while his accomplice used a hammer to smash cabinets and steal brands such as Rolex, Tudor and Oris.

Around 15 minutes earlier, the heavily-convicted 29-year-old drug addict, of Basford, had ridden his partner in crime to a mobile jewellers in Long Eaton but the owner fought them off before they could steal anything from him and was struck with the hammer for bravely protecting his property.

Jailing the defendant, of New Basford, for seven years, Recorder Jaron Crooknorth said: “Cope Jewellers was established in 1845 and has been in Nottingham city centre for more than 150 years. Andrew Cope is the fifth generation to run it and says nothing like this has ever happened to him in 40 years.

“Your 90 seconds in the store will leave a mark on him forever as it will for you for some significant amount of time. You are someone who is used to using violence.”

Denney Lau, prosecuting, said the main robbery happened during a daylight raid at Cope Jewellers, in Upper Parliament Street at around 1.45pm on Tuesday, September 3. Shocking CCTV played to the court showed the accomplice, dressed all in black and with his head covered by a motorcycle helmet, wields the hammer and starts smashing cabinets before ransacking the window displays, putting the watches in a bag and running out.

In the footage, a staff member runs downstairs to raise the alarm, while a customer freezes in fear and Boden stands guard at the door to stop people walking in or out. Mr Lau said: “Stolen were 25 watches including Rolex, Oris and Tudor worth £166,145 at retail value.

“In a victim impact statement, the owner said the sight of seeing a hammer-wielding person wearing all black in a motorcycle helmet was intimidating, traumatic and scary. He said Copes was established in 1845 and he is the fifth generation to run it and sees it as an integral part of Nottingham city centre’s retail businesses.

“He said this has hugely affected his business and he worries of the effect it could have on his customers.”

Mr Lau said around 15 minutes before the robbery at Copes, Boden and the still to be caught main offender approached The Gold Trailer stall in Market Place, Long Eaton, but the owner, suspicious of the pair, saw them approaching, ran towards them shouting “come on then” and fought the hammer-wielding would-be robber off leaving them empty-handed.

Boden, of Maud Street, pleaded guilty to robbery, attempted robbery and driving whilst disqualified. He has 17 previous convictions for 25 offences including wounding, assault, burglary and dangerous driving.

Roger Wilson, mitigating, said his client was the rider of the motorbike, did not have a weapon and was the person responsible for assaulting the Long Eaton victim. He said: “He has taken the blame for the other man.

“He tells me he was only recruited that morning, it was not his idea, he was addicted to drugs and had a drug debt of £2,000 which was spiralling. He was told that morning he would be riding a motorcycle and was told where to go and when.

“He had no control over the other person’s actions and was not told that morning they had a weapon. His reward is this prison sentence and he has let down his partner and his children who dote on him.”

In a statement released at the time, Detective Inspector Chris Berryman, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “We treat incidents such as these extremely seriously and we will always carry out a thorough investigation in a bid to uncover who may be responsible. To be a victim to an incident like this can be extremely distressing and we won't tolerate these crimes. Our investigation will now continue.”

Anyone with information on the identity of the second man is asked to contact Nottinghamshire Police.