Bury armed robbers jailed after mother calls police
Two armed robbers who were caught after one of their mothers reported them to police on the day of the crime have been jailed.
Bernadette Chapman, 27, and James Clewes, 32, took money, cigarettes and alcohol from a shop on Rochdale Road, Bury on 23 May after threatening staff with knives.
Chapman later confessed what she had done to her mother, who phoned police.
The pair, from Bury, were jailed at Bolton Crown Court on Friday.
Clewes was sentenced to three years four months in prison, while Chapman received two years six months.
A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said the two had gone into the store at about 07:10 BST, with Clewes being caught on CCTV threatening the cashier with a knife.
He then made the cashier help him fill a large bag with cigarettes and alcohol.
The spokesman said following the robbery, the pair had been temporarily stopped from fleeing the Best One store by a member of the public holding the door shut from the outside.
They then tried to escape through the back of the shop, but after failing to find a way out, returned to the front and smashed a glass panel in the door before running off.
Later that day, Chapman confessed what she had done to her mother, who then called police.
The pair were arrested at a pub a short time later.
Det Con Mick Yates said Clewes and Chapman had "armed themselves with knives and used the threat of violence to terrify staff at the shop [which was] by their own admissions, a desperate act".
"It seems the reality of what they had just done quickly dawned on them and Chapman in particular was quick to confess.
"Faced with this revelation and an extremely difficult decision to make, credit must go to Chapman's mother who, without hesitation, called the police."