Post Office and Co-op robbers armed with axe caught after 30-mile Worcestershire pursuit

Two armed robbers who tried to hold up a Post Office and Co-op in Worcestershire villages 10 minutes apart have been put behind bars for a combined total of almost 10 years. Christopher Keylock, 56, and Christopher Lamb, 27, tried to hold up the Post Office in Offenham and then the Co-op in Honeybourne some five miles away, both on Saturday, March 30 this year.

The duo were pursued by West Mercia Police's Operational Policing Unit (OPU), which tracked them from near Evesham all the way to Ledbury, some 30 miles away in Herefordshire. An axe was thrown from the passenger seat of the car towards police by Lamb before they were successfully stopped with a stinger device, which burst the car’s tyres.

Christopher Keylock, 56, of Evesham Road in Cleeve Prior, was sentenced to 31 months for each of his robbery and attempted robbery convictions, to run concurrently, at Worcester Crown Court on 6 November. He was further convicted of driving a motor vehicle dangerously for which he was given a 12-month sentence to run consecutively.

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His total jail term was 43 months, and he was also disqualified from driving for 52 months. While Christopher Lamb, 27, of Vittoria Walk, Cheltenham, was previously sentenced to six years for one count of robbery and one of attempt robbery to run concurrently at Worcester Crown Court on August 15.

Lamb was also convicted of possession of a knife/blade in a public place, for which he was sentenced to four months to run concurrently, and criminal damage, which had no separate penalty. A charge of affray was ordered to lie on file.

Detective Inspector Dave Knight, of South Worcestershire CID, said: “We are pleased to get convictions for this pair of armed robbers who are now behind bars. They were caught following great work by our OPU officers who pursued them from near to Evesham right across the county towards Eastnor Castle in Ledbury.

“During the pursuit a masked offender, Lamb, launched an axe at the pursuing police vehicles from the passenger seat, but this did not deter them, and they successfully stopped and arrested them.”