Pair sent to prison after robbing Knutsford bank at gunpoint

Jason Jenyons and Paul Broughton, both of Knutsford, carried out the robbery at the town’s NatWest branch on March 5 this year.

After threatening staff members at the King Street bank, the two men escaped on a motorcycle, zig-zagging through pedestrians in a nearby park.

Chester Crown Court also heard how the actions of a quick-thinking employee were ’instrumental’ in catching the pair.

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And, after deeming them ‘a danger to the public’, Judge Steven Everett sentenced Jenyons to 18 years in prison and Broughton to 15 years.

Brian Treadwell, prosecuting, told the court they travelled to the scene on a plum-coloured Kawasaki motorcycle and stormed into the bank wearing helmets to disguise their identity.

Forty-two-year-old Broughton, of Shaw Drive, was described as the ringleader in the robbery and the court heard he pushed the bank’s front of house customer services manager inside, shouting threats and demands for cash.

He also pointed a gun at the head of the terrified employee.

Meanwhile, Jenyons, 51, who only admitted his guilt weeks before a planned trial, had stood by the door holding a can of petrol, which Broughton also used to threaten the four petrified employees.

Mr Treadwell also praised one of the bank’s clerks, who while filling a bag with £14,100 in cash, also put in a dye pack, which exploded after the thieves left the bank and led to the pair’s undoing.

He said: “The actions of the clerk that day was instrumental in catching the pair.

“The dye pack exploded after they left the bank, with them making their escape on the motorbike through a nearby park, where they were seen zig-zagging though pedestrians, including children.

“When the police carried out a search warrant at Jenyons’ home in Overfields they found a plastic tube full of cash, all of it dyed red.

“They also found partially burned clothing, including a glove worn in the robbery, in a chiminea in Jenyons’ back garden.”

The gun was never found and as a result the men were charged with possession of an imitation firearm.

Mr Treadwell explained how the pair planned the robbery, with phone data showing they had been in contact with each other 49 times in the days before and after it.

Broughton was the ring-leader in the bank robbery

He also told the court about how each had a long history of offending, with serious assaults and burglary chief among them.

He added: “Jenyons only admitted his guilt after Broughton provided a statement implicating him.”

In a victim impact statement provided to the court, one employee said how he was now jumpy and suffered with anxiety and regularly found himself looking at CCTV at even the slightest of noises.

He also spoke at his frustrations at how the threatening actions of the men had impacted the lives of the staff, while another employee said the incident felt like it lasted much longer than the four and a half minutes it took.

Defending barristers Olivia Beesley (Jenyons) and Rona Maguire (Broughton) said their clients had shown remorse and had both had difficult upbringings, after being put into care as children.

The pair had drug addictions, which had fuelled their often shocking crimes, they added.

Jenyons received an 18 year sentence after only admitting his role in the robbery just weeks before a planned trial

Judge Everett, honorary recorder of Chester said the pair had both played their part in the calculated robbery, which was designed to create ‘maximum fear’ for the employees.

“Your intention was to obtain as much money as possible,” he said.

“I have no doubt you each planned to get your hands on many thousands of pounds.

“Going into the bank in helmets not only protected your identity it also created an extra aura of fear.

“The employee who you pointed the gun at must have had his whole life flash before his eyes.

“It was a truly awful thing to do.

“It must have felt like a lifetime to the four employees who were simply doing their job and serving their community.

“Knutsford is not a huge metropolis, and it must have had a huge effect generally on the town.

“You have both been entrenched in crime for most of your lives.”

Judge Everett said the pair represented a danger to the public and extended their sentences.

Jenyons was given a longer sentence he said, because he had only pleaded guilty after his accomplice had provided a statement that implicated him.