Long Eaton couple jailed for string of armed robberies

Officers found a handgun hidden inside a cake box at the couple's home

A couple have been jailed for four armed robberies where a handgun was used to demand cash, tobacco, and alcohol.

Mark Hamlet, 37, and Rebecca Monk, 50, were arrested at their home in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, after a 14-hour stand-off with police in July 2019.

Officers found the handgun used in the robberies hidden inside a cake box at the property, police said.

The pair were sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday.

Police said Hamlet used a handgun to demand cash, tobacco, and alcohol from shopkeepers

The first robbery took place at the Co-op in College Street, Long Eaton, on 23 June 2019.

Police said Monk went inside the shop first to investigate before Hamlet entered and used a handgun threaten shopkeepers.

Three more robberies took place over the following days at a convenience store in Sandiacre, a petrol station in Spondon and a Post Office in Long Eaton.

Following the fourth robbery on 4 July, officers went to the couple's home in Grasmere Road and the pair were detained after the stand-off.

Hamlet was jailed for 15 years and six months, and Monk was jailed for seven years

Both denied the offences but were found guilty after a trial at Derby Crown Court.

Hamlet was jailed for 15 years and six months for three counts of robbery and one count of attempted robbery, threatening a person with a blade, possession of an imitation firearm, possession of a firearm when prohibited and possession of firearm ammunition.

Monk was jailed for seven years for one count of robbery in relation to the first robbery on College Street.