Brave Derbyshire market stall holder fought off would-be jewellery robbers

A Derbyshire market stall holder bravely fought off two would-be robbers who had targeted his mobile jewellers. Nottingham Crown Court heard how Jack Hawkins spotted the two men on a motorcycle “scoping” stores in Long Eaton.

Seeing them come towards his stall - the Gold Trailer in Market Place - he ran towards them shouting “come on then” before getting into a fight with them and being struck to the hand by a lump hammer one of them was carrying. His desire to protect his stock and his livelihood saw the men, Luke Boden and a man who is still at large, leave empty-handed.

But just 15 minutes later, the pair stole more than £166,000 of Rolex, Tudor and Oris watches from a long-established family-run firm in Nottingham city centre by using a hammer to smash cabinets and grab the high-value items.

Sentencing 29-year-old drug addict Boden for seven years, Recorder Jaron Crooknorth said: “Jack Hawkins spotted you scoping jewellers in Long Eaton and, as you came towards him, in fear for his business, he ended up confronting you. He tried to push your accomplice off the bike and you ended up becoming involved and he was struck to the hand by a hammer having fought you off and you both rode off.

“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, wield the hammer and start 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 Cope 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 Cope, Boden and the still-to-be-caught main offender approached The Gold Trailer stall in Market Place, Long Eaton, but Mr Hawkins, 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, New Basford, 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.