Sutton Bridge sister avoids jail for role in PO raid

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.lynnnews.co.uk/news/crime-an ... -1-5179997" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A former Sutton Bridge woman helped her brother and another man to rob a village post office at gunpoint, a court has heard.

David Leadbeater, 23, and Sam Holmes, 22, both of south-east London, were jailed for five years at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday for the raid in Tydd Gote in June last year.

Leadbeater’s sister, Sasha Cracknell, 22, formerly of Allenby’s Chase, Sutton Bridge, was also sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

All three defendants had denied charges of robbery but were convicted after a trial.

The raid happened on June 21 last year, when two men carrying firearms entered the premises and ordered sub post-mistress, Jane Wright, to “open up” the post office.

Mrs Wright was knocked to the ground and kicked in the attack, but refused to reveal the full code for the safe. The robbers escaped with just the day’s float money, £670.

On the day before the robbery, Mrs Wright, who suffered bruising to her back and ankle in the incident, had taken a telephone call asking what the opening times of the post office were.

The call was subsequently traced to a number belonging to Cracknell, who also admitted growing cannabis in the spare bedroom of her home.

The court was also told that Leadbeater and Holmes are already serving six-year jail terms for car crimes committed in Kent.

Passing sentence, Judge Sean Morris told them: “Last June, Jane Wright, who had been sub-post mistress at Tydd Gote for some 23 years, was subjected to the most brutal robbery.

“You brought up murderous looking weapons and brandished them in that shop.”

He also awarded Mrs Wright £500 out of public funds for her bravery.

[Lounge Lizard]

Sasha Cracknell