Former criminology student jailed for 15 years for armed raids in Birmingham & Solihull

A former criminology student has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after he carried out 18 armed robberies at a bank, supermarkets, convenience stores and service stations across Birmingham and the Black Country.

Kudakwashe Chowa held shop workers at knifepoint and on one occasion used a gun to threaten staff at a bank in Acocks Green, stealing over £3,500 in cash.

The 30-year-old, of High Street, Erdington, was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday (August 7) after pleading guilty to six armed robberies on retail premises across Birmingham, Solihull, Dudley and Tipton between February and October last year.

Chowa also asked for 12 other robbery offences to be taken into consideration before sentencing. Seventeen of the armed robberies were carried out at knifepoint and at the final robbery before he was caught he used a gun to rob a bank. He targeted a One-Stop shop in Solihull but ran out after a staff member activated the alarm.

This didn’t put Chowa off as he went on to carry out armed robberies including targeting a Londis in Rubery, Spar in Cotteridge and he targeted a service station on the Alcester Road in Birmingham, twice in a matter of days. Officers from West Midlands Police’s robbery team worked alongside their forensics department, Operational Support Unit, local policing and firearms officers on the investigation to catch Chowa.

He was finally arrested in November after he carried out a robbery at Lloyds bank using a gun, which was later confirmed to be a BB gun. Police carried out an extensive CCTV trawl casting a net over several miles until Chowa was identified.

CCTV evidence also captured him paying in old £50 notes and damaged notes stolen from the bank into his own bank account. Officers then swooped at his home and arrested him. They seized BB gun packaging which was recovered along with a money bag stolen in the robbery.

What has West Midlands Police said about the case?

Detective Sergeant Curt Wilkins, from the robbery team at Sutton Coldfield, said: “This is testament to the hard work that was carried out by officers from the Birmingham East Robbery Team. “The initial attendance, the tenacity shown during hours of CCTV work, through to his arrest, evidence gathering at the scene, interview and the subsequent file of evidence that was prepared led to this fantastic result.

“Chowa had attended a university course in criminology. This would provide him with knowledge of police and forensic tactics. He was brazen in his approach, but his luck finally ran out. He was presented with so much evidence that he had no alternative but to plead guilty to all offences.

“These are serious offences reflected in the sentence, with many of the victims still impacted to this very day, hopefully this result provides them with some closure and an avenue for them to move forward in their lives knowing Chowa is behind bars.”