JAILED: Two men who committed robbery in Skegness on run from violent incident in Rugby

Kevin Mullen, 38, formerly of Edward Street, Nuneaton, and Daniel Jordan, 43, formerly of Spruce Road, Nuneaton, were sentenced alongside Aaron Liburd, 42, formerly of Prior Park Road, Rugby, at Warwick Crown Court.

Their appearance follows a two-year investigation by Warwickshire Police and the trio face a total of more than 40 years jail for putting their victims through a "terrifying ordeal".

The court heard that at around 3.40pm on 9 April 2019, a driver of a cash in transit van was threatened with a knife and assaulted outside Lidl on Bilton Road, Rugby. The incident caused the driver to lose hold of his cash, which the suspects then stole and left with the money in a vehicle. However, when the security dye subsequently went off on the cash, the men abandoned their car on Farnborough Avenue and left the scene.

Liburd was arrested on 12 April 2021 for the offence.

At around 5am on 6 May 2019, a robbery took place at Tesco in Skegness. This was later established to have been committed by Mullen and Jordan while on the run from the Rugby robbery.

Mullen was arrested on 10 May 2019, and Jordan was arrested on 18 May 2019 in Fenny Drayton. He tried to make off from police in a vehicle during the arrest, and was subsequently also charged with dangerous driving.

In May 2021, they pleaded guilty to the following offences:

• Aaron Liburd: robbery outside Lidl, Rugby on 9 April 2019.

• Kevin Mullen: robbery outside Lidl, Rugby on 9 April 2019, robbery at Tesco Express, Skegness on 6 May 2019 • Daniel Jordan: robbery outside Lidl, Rugby on 9 April 2019, robbery at Tesco Express, Skegness on 6 May 2019, and dangerous driving in relation to the pursuit on 18 May 2019.

The men were due to be sentenced last year, but due to other circumstances this was delayed. Today, they were sentenced to:

• Aaron Liburd: 11 years and six months.

• Kevin Mullen: 16 years

• Daniel Jordan: 16 years and a driving disqualification on his release.

Investigating officer, Det Insp Collette O’Keefe from Leamington CID, said: “This was a significant investigation which involved a dedicated team working on it for two years.

“On the day of the Rugby robbery, these men showed extreme violence, using machetes in broad daylight outside of a supermarket. This was a pre-planned job and a terrifying ordeal for the victims to go through.

“Although sentencing has been delayed, I hope the victims will now be able to take some comfort that these men will now face considerable time in prison for their actions.

“I’d like to thank the investigating team for their tireless dedication, to enable this case to come to a successful conclusion.”