Masked hammer thugs jailed for Bassetlaw post office raid

Liam Malone, aged 28, of Ropery Road, and his accomplice Jake Hardy, 27, of no fixed address, were wearing masks when they raided the post office branch in Stockwith Road, Walkeringham.

They were pursued across countryside and found hiding in an outbuilding in a field by a police dog and her handler.

The pair admitted robbery and aggravated vehicle taking when they appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday, March 9.

Hardy was jailed for four years and three months, and Malone was sentenced to three years and three months.

The court heard how Hardy and Malone threatened a female member of staff with a hammer before making off with about £1,200 in cash. They fled in a car stolen from the woman, which was found abandoned a short distance away.

PC Gregor Robbie and Police Dog Grace arrived at the scene about an hour after the robbery, and tracked them for nearly two hours across fields and farmland.

Five-year-old German Shepherd bitch Grace found two items of clothing which had been discarded in a stream under a bridge.

PC Robbie and PD Grace had to find their way across a canal as they continued their track which led them to an outbuilding in a field where Hardy and Malone were found hiding.

Speaking after the sentencing PC Robbie said: “It was a great job which recognises the excellent work our police dogs do.

“If Grace hadn’t been there we wouldn’t have caught the suspects. The distance tracked in the end, was over five kilometres – more than three miles.”