Yardley: Post office armed robber and conman jailed

An armed robber and conman has been jailed for more than 14 years.

Christopher Conrad threatened a post office worker with a knife before fleeing the branch in Coventry Road, Yardley, with money in January this year.

When he was arrested police linked him to a robbery at a petrol station and found that he had been conning an 80 year-old woman out of thousands of pounds.

How did police track down Conrad?

West Midlands Policeidentified Conrad as the prime suspect and spotted him behind the wheel of a Range Rover in Stechford days later.

They found a stash of cash inside the vehicle when they arrested him.

Following further enquiries police established the 37-year-old had been involved in a petrol station robbery three days before the armed raid.

He threatened to stab the petrol station cashier if they didn’t open the till before Conrad made off with cash and cigarettes.

He had also repeatedly scammed an 80 year-old woman of money, regularly visiting her between November and December last year. He received cheques worth thousands of pounds to cover the cost of impending building work.

On one occasion he even went with to a cash point to withdraw cash. However, Conrad no longer worked for the company he claimed to represent and the money was personally banked without any work ever beginning.

Conrad, of no fixed address, admitted the robberies, fraud and having a bladed article and was jailed for a total of 14 years and four months at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday (12 October).

What do police say about the case?

DC Gareth Holmes, from the Force Priorities Team at Force CID said "Conrad is a callous and dangerous man who is now thankfully behind bars for a long time.

"He was brought into our custody following a great spot by officers who noticed the Range Rover he had bought with cash just the day beforehand.

"While carrying out further enquiries around Conrad we were able to link him to other crimes in the region.

"He targeted an elderly woman and abused her trust, conning her of her life savings over several months and frittering away the money on gambling and drugs.

"We built a strong case of evidence against Conrad and have managed to take a violent and unscrupulous criminal off the streets."

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