I have been asked by Wolverhampton Police to publicise this information.
Dear resident
A Wolverhampton man has been jailed for five years for robbery after cash delivery raids on security vans.
Leon Friedmann, from Grosvenor Close, Bushbury, was already wanted by police on suspicion of being involved in a series of cash box robberies when a foiled heist brought him to justice.
The 28-year-old was with others in a stolen Ford Focus acting suspiciously outside Waitrose on Penn Road where a security van was delivering cash on Friday 16 January.
As guards alerted police, the car drove off at speed and with the assistance of the National Police Air Service, officers found the car abandoned near to the Mander Centre moments later.
Friedmann was arrested on the car park after a short footchase as his accomplices fled into the shopping centre.
Earlier that day the same distinctive orange Focus had been involved in the theft of a cash box from security guards outside an ATM at Showell Circus, Low Hill after guards had been threatened by two men with iron bars. But the thieves were left empty-handed when the box revealed it had nothing in it when they stopped to open it a short distance away.
Friedmann was pleaded guilty to robbery and conspiracy to rob at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Thursday 7 May.
The sentence reflects the serious nature of these offences and the danger that members of the public were placed in by Friedmann and his associates. Justice has served by a combined effort of public vigilance and police investigation.
