The quick response of police to a robbery at Hyperama’s West Bromwich cash & carry last month resulted in the getaway lorry, which contained a stash of cigarettes, being tracked to a flat in Walsall.

Two members of staff were threatened with a baseball bat and tied up in the raid by masked men.

Four people – Satnam Singh, 50, Paul Bardsley, 42, Jordan Warren, 18, and an unnamed 17-year-old male – were due to appear at a preliminary hearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court (14 May) as this issue of Cash & Carry Management was going to press.