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Saturday, October 04, 2008, 08:00
Terry Wallace, 26, Leroy Wilkinson, 29, Victor Iniodu, 34, and Adrian Johnson, 28, all from London, were part of a gang run by Mark Nunes, one of two robbers shot dead by a police team lying in wait for them outside a bank last year.
The four men were found guilty after a trial at Kington-upon-Thames Crown Court. Another three men had also previously pleaded guilty to their involvement in the conspiracy to rob. They were Brian Henry, Leon McKenzie and Leroy Hall.
The seven were involved in 18 robberies and attempted robberies between April 2006 and September 2007.
They targeted security van guards and stole about £500,000.
The gang's first raid was outside the National Westminster Bank in Wells Road, Knowle, on April 26, 2006 and netted it £25,000 when two men wearing blue overalls robbed a security guard of a cashbox as he made a delivery.
Their second, at Lloyds TSB in Lodge Causeway, Fishponds on May 23, 2006, brought them their single largest haul, of £165,000.
A security guard was knocked to the ground, dragged to the rear of his van at gunpoint and pistol-whipped.
After raids in London and the Home Counties the gang returned to Bristol to attack a guard making a delivery at the NatWest in Wells Road on December 8, 2006.
During the incident Bristol's present Lord Mayor, Chris Davies, rugby tackled a robber as he escaped, causing him to drop the cash box.
Mr Davies, 63, a former Port of Bristol policeman, won an Evening Post Gold Star in recognition of his bravery.
The fourth Bristol robbery was at HSBC in Fishponds Road, on December 12, 2006, when a security guard was grabbed around the neck and a cashbox containing £100 in traveller's cheques stolen.
There was a further robbery at Lloyds TSB, Moorland Road, Bath, on July 25, 2007, when a cashbox containing £25,000 was stolen after a security guard was assaulted. But the 18-month spree was brought to a dramatic end when ringleader Mark Nunes, 35, was gunned down by a police marksman as he held a pistol to the head of a security guard outside a branch of HSBC in Chandlers Ford, Hampshire.
Accomplice Andrew Markland, 36, was also shot dead when he tried to pick up Nunes' weapon.
Detective Inspector Paul Appleton led Avon and Somerset's Operation Breech, the investigation into the four robberies and attempted robbery.
He said after yesterday's verdicts: "This was undoubtedly a dangerous gang carrying out violent robberies across the South, which impacted considerably on Bristol and Bath.
"Although robberies like this are very rare, detectives in Avon and Somerset relentlessly pursued the robbers throughout our force area and liaised closely with other forces in bringing them to justice.
"I would also like to thank the members of the public who intervened during the third incident on Wells Road in what would have been another robbery without their help."
The gang members will be sentenced at the end of the month.
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