Bungling criminals have been locked up for their roles in a botched cash-in-transit robbery at a petrol station.
Gheorghita Ciucur and Marius Oana waited until a security delivery driver returned to his van and then tried to wrestle the cash box from him.
The tug of war continued but the driver wouldn’t let go and the pair ran off emptyhanded after a woman shouted at them.
The bungling robbers had been driven to the BP petrol station, in Mansfield Road, Woodthorpe, by 25-year-old Gymi Virtan.
The failed heist happened at around 2.40pm on Friday 4 November 2022.
Ciucur, aged 35, and Oana, aged 27, fled the scene in the same car which was identified and later stopped by police on the A50 in Staffordshire.
The three occupants were arrested and items including face masks, gloves, an angle grinder and sledge hammer were found in the boot.
Ciucur, Oana, and Virtan were subsequently charged and pleaded guilty to attempted robbery.
They appeared at Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing on Monday (5 June 2023).
Ciucur, formerly of Cole Hall Lane, Birmingham, was jailed for three-and-a-half years.
Oana and Virtan, both formerly of Shenstone Road, Soho, Birmingham, were locked up for three years.
Virtan also pleaded guilty to driving without insurance. He was banned from driving for 30 months.
Inspector Steve Dalby, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was a planned and brazen attack on a security driver in broad daylight.
“The offenders travelled a substantial distance from the West Midlands knowing exactly when their target would be in the location for this offence to be committed.
“I hope the sentences passed to Oana, Ciucur and Virtan will deter other would-be offenders and sends out a clear message that Nottinghamshire Police will deal robustly with those involved in serious crime of this nature and will do all it can to bring them to justice.”
Our cultured friends at it again. How can a lenient sentence deter these criminals?