Hardy’s Gunsmiths raid Sheffield: Burglary gang tracked down by take-away phone order from crime scene
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Four men have been jailed for over 31 years for burglary and firearm offences over the incident at Hardy’s Gunsmiths on Alderson Road, Sheffield, at around 12.50am on Friday April 3 2020 and a quantity of firearms and ammunition were taken.
After an extensive, two-year investigation that included multiple warrants and meticulous CCTV checks, officers were able to determine that Musfer Jabbar, Shabaz Ismail, Andrew Coy and Andrew Cross were responsible.
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Hide AdCCTV from the area showed a distinct vehicle that turned out to be rented by 35-year-old Coy. Checks showed the vehicle being driven by Coy, to and from the scene of the burglary in company with Cross, 40, loaded with stolen items to a property on Wharncliffe Avenue. The occupant of that property, a 34-year-old woman, was sentenced in November 2020 for handling stolen goods.
Ismail, 22, and Jabbar, 22, stayed in the shop but enquiries and CCTV showed Jabbar making a phone call. Phone checks confirmed that he was placing an order with a local takeaway for two lamb burger meals and this crucially placed them at the scene of the burglary.
To date, almost half of the firearms stolen have been successfully recovered with some in West Yorkshire and London. Enquiries are on-going into the remaining firearms still missing and anyone with information is asked to get in touch.
Cross, of Frog Walk, Sheffield, pleaded guilty at trial to burglary, possession of firearm without a certificate and possession of a firearm when prohibited and jailed for nine years. Coy, of Wood Road, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to burglary and possession of a firearm without a certificate and was jailed for five years and 10 months. Ismail, of Glover Road, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to burglary, possession of a prohibited weapon, possession of a firearm without a certificate and other weapon and drug offences relating to other matters and jailed for eight years and one month. Jabar, of no fixed address, was found guilty of burglary, possession of a firearm without a certificate and possession with intent to supply class A drugs and jailed for nine years.
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Hide AdThe group were all sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday (December 15 2022).
In December 2020, the owner of the business appeared in court for failing to comply with conditions of registration as a firearms dealer relating to the burglary. It was found that he’d left the address insecure and he was fined £350 by the court.
Detective Constable Scott Davies, from the South Yorkshire Police Armed Crime Team, said: “This burglary understandably caused a lot of concern at the time and months of work by our team and other specialist departments have thankfully led to those responsible now spending time behind bars.
“This was a burglary where Ismail and Jabbar took advantage of an insecure building and arranged for the guns to be removed, resulting in a number of firearms potentially ending up in the wrong hands, with a number still at large and possibly on the country’s streets.”