Gang who held knife to baby’s throat in Coventry robbery are jailed

BY JAMES TWOMEY  AND SAM WALKER
james@slpmedia.co.uk

A gang who held a knife to a baby’s throat as they demanded the code to a safe during a home rush robbery have been jailed.

Cousins Joshua Juggan, from Alvey Street in Southwark, and Malik Ragnatt, from Bensham Lane in Croydon, were among four men who stormed a house in Coventry on the morning of June 18, 2018.

They tied two women to chairs while the pair – alongside Daniel McKain, 29, and Gregory Crockett, 24 – searched the house.

When they discovered a safe inside a kitchen cupboard one of the group held a craft knife to a 10-month-old baby.

The men ripped the safe from the wall before Juggan, aged 24, drove them to a field off a motorway slip-road where they prized open the safe with a crowbar and divided the cash.

Juggan and Ragnatt, aged 21, spent several hours at an address in Birmingham smoking drugs before driving back to London.

At around 7.50pm on the same day, armed police from neighbouring Warwickshire stopped the car at gunpoint near Bicester on the M40.

A search of the car uncovered balaclavas, duct tape, about £1,400 in £20 notes, and Juggan and Ragnatt’s phones which were seized and forensically examined.

At Warwick Crown Court on July 12, Crockett – who also admitted handling stolen goods – was jailed for 12 years, McKain for 11 years and Juggan for 10 years. Ragnatt was sentenced on 24 July and jailed for 10 years.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Tom Simpson from West Midlands Police’s Force Priorities Team, said: “This was a truly sickening case – it’s hard to imagine that anyone could stoop so low as to threaten to injury a baby.

There was another young child in the address at the time but thankfully no-one was hurt and the offenders left with a quantity of cash and jewellery.

“A witness did a fantastic job in noting down the VRM of getaway car – and while they spent time smoking drugs in Birmingham we were already fast-tracking enquiries on the Focus to identify Juggan as the likely driver.

“As they were heading back to London they clearly thought they’d made their escape – but soon came face-to-face with armed police who stopped the car near junction 10.

“We soon identified Crockett and McKain as the two other men involved – and I’m pleased the court has handed down lengthy prison terms for what was a shocking robbery conspiracy.”