TWO armed robbers from Grimsby – who were apprehended by members of the public after raiding a jewellers - have been jailed.
They were locked up at Lincoln Crown Court yesterday after carrying out the daylight robbery at the shop in Louth.
Christopher London, 25, and Damion Clark, 30, were confronted by members of the public outside Eastgate Jewellers in the raid on June 24.Two passers-by guarded the door while another kicked over the getaway bike, parked outside the shop, the court heard.
As one of the robbers fled, he stabbed an elderly motorist because he would not give him his car to escape.
The other robber sought sanctuary in a school playground leading to a "lock down" of the school to protect the 400 pupils and staff.
Both men were armed with claw hammers and one had a kitchen knife when they were disturbed by the owner as they tried to smash their way in to the store's glass display cabinets.
Terrified owner Julie Smith was working in a back office when the raiders, wearing motorcycle helmets burst in.
She was pushed down some steps and forced to let the robbers leave after pressing an alarm which initially locked them in the front of the store.
However, by the time the two robbers emerged a crowd had gathered outside.
Jon Straw, prosecuting, said the robbers were left "high and dry" after the keys were removed from a getaway motorcycle.
He said: "This is a very remarkable example of people power.
"While they were inside trying to effect the robbery of the shop the people of the town banded together and the motorbike they intended to use for their escape was pushed over by a passer-by and the keys taken."
Clark fled to the nearby Queen Street car park where retired motorist Eric Chapman refused to had over his car keys – despite being stabbed in the eyebrow.
Other members of the public then detained him as he ran up Aswell Street. The knife and a number of jewellery boxes were found.
London fled up Aswell Street to nearby Kidgate Primary Academy, where he was confronted by deputy headteacher Paul Lidbury.
The court heard that London and Clark were serial criminals.
Clark, who had previously served jail sentences for wounding and arson, admitted the robbery on June 24 and unlawfully wounding Mr Chapman.
He also asked for 17 other offences to be taken into consideration.
Clark, of Littlecoates Road, was sentenced to of nine-and-a-half years; six years imprisonment with three and half years' extended licence.
Judge Sean Morris said he regarded him as "dangerous."
London, of Watford Avenue, also pleaded guilty to the robbery and asked for 12 other offences to be taken in to consideration, He was jailed for four years.
Judge Morris told them both: "When you forced that lady to open the door the good citizens of Lincolnshire had disabled your getaway vehicle, your motorbike, so you had to make a run for it.
"You were chased by those people and what you did, Clarke, was then stab a man in the head. He was an elderly gentleman sitting in his car.
"You opened the door and tried to drag him off, but he was made of stern stuff and did not budge."
Mr Lidbury and Mr Chapman were among a list of members of the public who were thanked by the police for their actions.
In a statement Mr Chapman said: "I was not going to let him take my car so I didn't move. As he brought his right arm up I saw the knife, and then he stabbed me in the right side of my right eye.
"If people had not got involved in trying to stop them I think things could have been much worse."
Mrs Smith, whose husband Roger was having a cigarette break when the raiders came in, added: "I could see they were smashing the cabinet tops and I heard the bangs. I can remember screaming and shouting at them.
"I constantly relive what happened and have visions of seeing the two helmets in the shop."
Officer in the case, DC Becky Manson, said, "This was a violent crime, carried out with audacity in the middle of the day, in a small market town.
"However, London and Clark did not reckon on public spirit and were thwarted by the community, with a number of members of the public playing pivotal roles in helping police apprehend the pair.
As a result, two dangerous offenders are now off the streets."
The robbery in broad daylight led to road blocks on all the roads out of Louth and the Humberside Police helicopter hovered over the town for a couple of hours.Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
