Robbers’ champagne lifestyle short-lived
Saturday 12th February 2011, 2:30PM GMT.
Jeweller Michael Paint had a gold bar, still in a police evidence bag, which was stolen from the family jewellery business returned by police yesterday afternoon. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 1092998)
TWO champagne-swilling crooks caught celebrating a £100,000 smash-and-grab raid from a Town jewellers found themselves hotly pursued by police and Customs officers.
As the pair fought to escape officers down the spiral staircase leading from the Rockmount Hotel’s rooftop terrace, a gold bar slipped from the front jeans pocket of Jason Duncombe, a homeless, jobless habitual criminal.
It was just part of a large haul of jewellery Duncombe and his fellow robber, Thomas Marr, had snatched from the smashed window of N St J Paint in July.
In the Royal Court yesterday the men, aged 27, pleaded guilty to burglary and were each sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail.
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How did Customs become involved in a purely Policing matter?
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4 1/2 years!!!! That’s it!!!!!
It is hardly a deterent!!!!!!!!!
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Well, Ray, I don’t know much about much, and actually I know nothing at all about the glamorous world of professional crime in Guernsey. If anyone’s made the Guernsey equivalent of GoodFellas, I ain’t seen it.
But it strikes me that it might be rather difficult to fence stolen goods in Guernsey. You know, every other person you offer the jewellery stash to is going to be the father-in-law of the sister of the girlfriend of the guy you nicked it off.
So if the police are working under the assumption that anything valuable stolen in Guernsey will get smuggled out of the island eventually, that would appear sensible.
So that might explain the presence of Customs.
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James Cranch
Customs were pretty quick off the mark then.The smash and grab only happened a few hours before the arrest I think
More likely a couple of customs guys were having a bevvy at the Rockmount and got lucky?
( Nice gravatar by the way ..just watch out for those man boobs)
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i loved the bit about the gold bar falling out of mr duncombe’s jeans as he tries to descend the spiral staircase. then picture it clank, clank in slow motion, with everyone trying to grab it – the key stone cops and the anthill mob after a quarter of guernsey butter. the best press crim report since mr de j and the bus witness who absolutely knew what she saw, and no mistake, your honour.
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I hope Mr Paint has now had the sense to insure his stock!
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Queenbee, i whole heartedly agree, and would even go one further – Mr Paint will be lucky to get that bar back. If Duncombe had of used his brain and got rid of it quickly…. perhaps a charitable donation should be considered, after all he won’t be paying for the police time.
PS when i say brain i mean cell.
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Presumably, bart will be considering a charitable donation for not having been a victim of crime as a result of the time spent by the police in preventing it taking place.
PS When I say bart I mean fuzzy thinker.
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Presumably, Ted will be making a charitable donation for stealing 45 seconds of my life i will never get back by making me read that garble
PS When i say Ted i mean ill-advised
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