North Wales businessman's robbery ordeal

Oct 14 2009

A BUSINESSMAN was tied up, threatened and robbed of £38,000 in cash at his home, a court heard yesterday.

Two men dressed in black with balaclavas over their faces threatened to shoot Christopher Callear, who lives in Conwy. One of the men has never been caught.

But Liverpool gangster Peter Madu, 35, was arrested after his fingerprint was found inside the house.

Yesterday Madu, of Wordsworth Street in Toxteth, had been due to go on trial  but changed his plea and admitted robbery. He was jailed for seven years.

Mold Crown Court heard how Madu had previous convictions for robbery and attempted robbery at post offices and had previously served seven-year and four-and-a-half-year prison sentences. The hunt for the second robber goes on.

Prosecutor Jayne La Grua said Christopher Callear ran his own paving business and was often paid in cash.

At the time of the robbery in April last year he had £38,000 in cash in the house – £20,000 hidden in a bag in the back bedroom and £18,000 in his bedside cabinet.

He was at home alone, lying on the sofa in the living room watching football on television when suddenly two men, dressed all in black and wearing black balaclavas, came straight in through his front door.

The taller of the two men, said to have been Madu, threatened the victim while the other searched the house.

The victim was terrified and started screaming but Madu told him to “shut the f*** up”.

Miss La Grua said that the other man found the £20,000 and Madu demanded to know how much was in the bag.

When told it was £20,000, he demanded to know where the rest was.

At that stage he put his hand down the front of his trousers as if he was hiding a weapon and asked where the rest of the money was hidden.

“Tell me or I will shoot you. I’ll make a mess of you,” he shouted.

The victim told him where it was, the second man got the cash, and they also stole a £10,000 watch and £3,000 bracelet.

Before leaving they told him to lie down on his stomach. They then used his own belts to tie him up, ripped out the telephone cable and took his mobile.

Madu was arrested when his fingerprint was found on the inside of the victim’s front door. He had claimed  he had visited the property previously, but abandoned the story yesterday.

Judge John Rogers QC said the defendant had come over from Liverpool to Conwy knowing that the victim had cash in the house.