Nial Kiernan, Arran Crossan and Anthony Morrison jailed for more than 40 years for their part in two bank robberies

Niall Kiernan

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Nial Kiernan, Arran Crossan and Anthony Morrison have been jailed for their part in two bank robberies in 2014.

Kiernan (29/01/1991), of Caldbeck Drive, Middleton was sentenced to 22 years in prison after being convicted of conspiracy to commit robbery.

Crossan (15/12/1990), of Talkin Drive, Middleton was sentenced to 17 years in prison after being convicted of conspiracy to commit robbery.

Morrison (10/08/1979), of Bury New Road, Heywood was sentenced to eight years in prison after being convicted of robbery.

On 8 May 2014, members of staff were inside a bank on Middleton Road in Oldham carrying out the daily closing down protocol whilst two work men were carrying out maintenance in the boiler room.

One of the men went to retrieve some equipment from his van when he noticed two strange men dressed in high visibility jackets seemingly carrying out further maintenance work outside. As he got closer to them, he realised that they were both wearing balaclavas and were armed with an axe and a crowbar.

They grabbed the man and forced him to the ground before demanding he get them into the bank.

After leading them into the boiler room where he had been was working and attempting to explain that he had no access to the main bank, the offenders threatened him and his colleague before making them to stay put whilst they forced their way into the bank itself.

The pair got inside and stole a significant amount of cash and jewellery before fleeing.

Prior to the second robbery at a bank on York Street in Heywood, three men broke into a house on Stubley Mill Road, Littleborough whilst a man and a woman slept upstairs.

When the man living in the house came down and confronted them, the three offenders, one of whom was armed with a machete, threatened him and forced him to hand over the keys to a BMW 330 and an Audi S3 before leaving.

The bank robbery in Heywood then took place in the middle of the day on 12 June 2016 just after a cash delivery had been made.

After hearing the sound of glass smashing upstairs and thinking it was a colleague, a woman working in the bank went upstairs to investigate before being confronted by a man dressed in black and wearing a balaclava.

The offender grabbed her by the arm before forcing her into the staff kitchen where there was a fire escape. The man opened the fire escape allowing his accomplice to join him in the bank.

The pair then dragged the woman downstairs and into an office, where a number of her colleagues were, before forcing everybody present to lay on the ground.

Whilst in there, the two offenders stole a significant amount of cash before fleeing.

It is believed that the man had managed to gain entry by removed security bars protecting a window sometime before the day of the robbery. They then came back on the day and lay in wait for a cash delivery to be made before one of them smashed the window to get inside.

Officers arrested the three men at separate locations and following exhaustive enquiries were able to prove they had been heavily involved in planning the robberies.

Detective Sergeant Rick Castley, of GMP’s Serious and Organised Crime Group said: “These three men are highly sophisticated robbers who were very methodical in the planning they put in prior to carrying out their criminal deeds.

“These robberies were not run of the mill opportunistic thefts; they were thoroughly planned in detail before being executed.

“I think the severity and sophisticated nature of their crimes is reflected in the lengthy sentence that has been passed today and I hope all those affected by these thugs will feel that justice has been done.”