Two DPD drivers were targeted in the Bordesley Green area while another was robbed in Kidderminster, Birmingham Crown Court heard
Stock picture of DPD van (Image: Getty Images)
Seven men have gone on trial accused of carrying out knifepoint robberies on DPD drivers by obtaining delivery routes from a company ‘insider’.
Two incidents took place in Birmingham either side of an incident in Kidderminster with more than £56,000-worth of goods stolen in total, Birmingham Crown Court heard on Wednesday, June 3.
Jay Shergill, 49, and Jamsher Chand, 25, are alleged to have committed all three robberies. Vishal Singh, 23, Gagandeep Singh, 31, Dheerarjpal Singh, 30 and Amandeep Kumar, 33 were said to have been involved in the two Birmingham incidents.
Amandeep Singh, 33, was the ‘insider’ working at DPD who provided them with information about delivery routes, the jury was told.
Opening the case Sarah Slater, prosecuting, said DPD provided next-day delivery, with routes pre-determined in the morning and high-value items often placed into black crates with red lids.
She told the court the first robbery took place at around 9.45am on November 5 last year when a driver in a marked DPD van was in the Bordesley Green area.
Ms Slater said: “He made some deliveries and was on his way back to his van when he noticed a small black hatchback, possibly an Astra or a Corsa.
“He was then approached by three males who seemed to have come from a black Mercedes.
“He was threatened with a knife and told to hand everything over.
“He gave them his phone and keys. All the parcels were unloaded into the Mercedes.
“After that had taken place, his phone and keys were given back to him and the vehicle drove away.”
She said £10,725-worth of items, mainly including mobile phones, were stolen.
Ms Slater told the court false plates had been fitted to the Mercedes which were subsequently dumped at Britannia Street in Oldbury, where they were found by police with Shergill’s fingerprints on them.
She said the Mercedes was captured on CCTV returning to Shergill’s address at St. Mark’s Road, Tipton, at 10.26am, before men started to unload black crates with red lids from the vehicle.
“We say Amandeep Singh was the insider who provided this group with information so they can locate and commit these robberies,” Ms Slater added.
“The prosecution say this was not a random incident. Not a random robbery.
“The group knew where they were to go and knew that because of the contact and information provided by Amandeep Singh.”
Shergill, Chand and an unidentified male were alleged to have carried out the second robbery in Kidderminster on November 27.
The court was told they set out from Shergill’s home in the Mercedes, which had another set of plates fitted to it, and targeted a DPD driver in a white hire van which had no logos.
Ms Slater said: “He was around Castle Road at 9.20am when he was approached and threatened with a knife.
“His phone and keys were taken from him then the van was emptied of almost all of its contents.
“After the contents were taken his phone and keys were returned to him.
“He was able to take a short video which showed the black Mercedes SUV driving away.”
She told the court a total of £29,430.05-worth of goods were stolen.
Ms Slater said the third incident took place on Grange Road in Small Heath at around 9.10am on December 3 when a driver in a marked DPD van was robbed.
“He was threatened with a knife and the group removed his keys and phones in a similar type of way the initial offence was committed,” the prosecutor added.
The contents taken from that van were worth £16,317, the jury was told.
Ms Slater said: “Nearly £57,000-worth of goods were stolen on three different occasions.
“The similarity again is the use of a black Mercedes in this robbery.”
Chand, of Crankhall Lane, Wednesbury, and Shergill deny two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery and one count of robbery.
Amandeep Kumar, of Newcombe Road, Handsworth, Dheerarjpal Singh, of no fixed address, Gagandeep Singh, of Beeton Road, Winson Green, Vishal Singh, of no fixed address, and Amandeep Singh, of Habberley Road, Rowley Regis, deny two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery.
Proceeding.