Two members of an armed gang who donned burka-style outfits to commit a violent robbery in Dundee had serious crime prevention orders imposed on them for the maximum period allowed by law.
Anthony Wheeldon, 40 and Connor Willis, 24, will be subject to restrictions – such as limiting access to the internet and mobile phones – for five years following their release from jail terms they are currently serving.
The orders are designed to stop them committing further crimes, after they were assessed as being at high risk of doing so.
Both men took part in a raid on Walker the Jeweller in Dundee’s Union Street when some of the gang dressed in full length Islamic style robes and face coverings on September 23 in 2019.
The raiders were armed with an axe, hammer and mallet and brandished weapons at staff.
A customer who tried to stop them was hit on the head with the mallet.
They smashed display cabinets but a staff member activated an anti-robbery device, which filled the premises with a thick fog and they managed to get away with two Rolex watches worth £17,850.
Edinburgh robbery
Willis was also part of a gang which staged another violent robbery at an Edinburgh jewellery business on August 31 in 2019.
They forced entry to Miena Jewellery in the city’s Great Junction Street with a sledgehammer and threatened to kill the proprietor.
He was struck with an axe as he fought back against the intruders and let off a fire extinguisher before three raiders fled to join an accomplice waiting in a stolen car.
Stock worth an estimated £27,000 was lost in the robbery.
Wheeldon was jailed for 11 years and Willis for 12 years last year after admitting their involvement in the raids.
The pair, from the Manchester area, were also told they would be under supervision for further periods, with Wheeldon being monitored for four years and Willis for five.
Crime prevention orders granted
Following their convictions the Crown applied to have serious crime prevention orders imposed on them.
Lord Beckett, who sentenced the pair, agreed to make the orders for the maximum period available during a hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh.
The judge said: “I consider that there is a risk, which is both real and significant, that you will offend in this way again.”
He pointed out Wheeldon had been assessed as posing a high risk of reoffending and Willis as presenting an extremely high risk of reoffending.
The judge said he concluded it was appropriate and necessary to make the orders for the five year period in order to prevent and disrupt their involvement in serious crime in Scotland.
Lord Beckett said when he sentenced them along with a co-accused, Dean King, 28, from Lanarkshire – jailed for nine years and two months for his part in the Dundee robbery – that he had remarked the offences involved considerable planning and sophistication in their execution.
Defence lawyers had argued shorter terms could be imposed on the men following their sentencing in November.
