Middleton Post Office robbers jailed

Guilty: Jonathan Dougan, sentenced to nine years.

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Four armed robbers have today (Tuesday 23 September) been given a total of 32 years behind bars for a number of offences, which included those related to a robbery of Mainway Post Office on Kirkway in Middleton.

During the robbery, on 13 February this year, staff were threatened with a baseball bat and a machete. The offenders forced open the doors and robbed a sum of cash.

Jonathan Dougan, 21, of Blackley and Matthew Murphy, 18, pleaded guilty to three charges of robbery and were sentenced to nine years in jail. Kyle Lowthian, 21, of Lower Kersal, pleaded guilty to robbery and the court took four previous offences into consideration. He was sentenced to six years in jail. Anthony Twigg, 23, also of Lower Kersal, pleaded guilty to aggravated taking of a vehicle without consent and robbery. He was sentenced to eight years and four months in jail.

Alongside the robbery of the Middleton post office, their offences also the theft of a man's jewellery, electrical items and his car during an incident in Prestwich. The man was punched and threatened with a baseball bat and kitchen knife during the robbery.

The next evening, Dougan and Murphy, alongside two others, robbed two cars in Bury after threatening another man at his home with a knife and baseball bat.

Detective Constable Dave Thorpe said: "The four men sentenced today have burst into people's lives while they were at home and at work.

"They arrogantly thought that they could get away with taking whatever they wanted from people; they were wrong. Today justice has been done and the message could not be clearer for anyone who tries to do anything similar."