Facing jail, robbery gang whose leader was shot dead by police

A gang whose crime spree was stopped when police shot the ring leader and another member dead face jail today.

Seven men were convicted at Kingston crown court for a string of armed robberies which netted them £500,000.

Police shot and killed 35-year-old Mark Nunes after he held a gun to the head of a security guard of a cash delivery van during the gang's final raid in September last year. As his accomplice Andrew Markland, 36, picked up Nunes's gun, the Met's C019 firearms officers also killed him.

Flying squad officers were covertly watching them and had been waiting for the gang outside the HSBC bank in Chandler's Ford, Hampshire, as the men were about to strike a Group 4 security van.

The gang, led by Nunes, had been behind a series of violent armed robberies over an 18-month period.

Today Victor Iniodu, 34, of Tooting, Leroy Wilkinson, 29, of Streatham, Adrian Johnson, 28, of Streatham Hill and getaway driver Terrence Wallace, 26 of Raynes Park, were all found guilty of conspiracy to rob. Three other men, Brian Henry, 32, Leon McKenzie, 28, of Stockwell and Leroy Hall, 32, of Streatham, had previously pleaded guilty.

The seven - along with Nunes and Markland - were involved in 18 robberies and attempted robberies across the south of England between April 2006 and September last year. Wallace was arrested fleeing the scene of their last robbery and the rest were arrested three months later.

The gang had targeted guards of cash delivery van offences as far apart as Bristol and Ipswich and regularly used firearms. On one occasion a shot was fired and on another two a gun was placed to a guard's head. A loaded 9mm handgun was recovered from the scene of the Chandler's Ford robbery.

The net closed on the gang after the Met's Flying Squad identified Nunes as being involved in a number of robberies and began an investigation codenamed Operation Hurlock.

In early September last year detectives identified a series of reconnaissance trips to Chandler's Ford and an operation to foil the suspected robbery was put in place.

The shootings are subject to a investigationby the Independent Police Complaints Commission. It will release its report after sentencing, which will be carried out at a later date.

Detective Inspector Terry Wilson, from the Flying Squad, said many of the gang's raids left security guards traumatised.

He added: "Today's verdicts are extremely satisfying and again demonstrate the ability of the Flying Squad to convict those responsible for armed robberies through robust and professional investigations. It should serve as a warning to all those who consider committing such an offence."