Prison for Corby pair who went on week-long knifepoint robbery spree at local shops

Two men from Corby who robbed four small shops in Desborough, Brigstock, Broughton and Market Harborough within a seven-day period have been sent to jail.

James McClafferty, 37, of Crick Close and Gary Woods, 36, formerly of Corby and now of HMP Woodhill appeared before Northampton Crown Court yesterday (Thursday, January 21) charged with four counts of robbing the convenience stores.

The court heard how Woods, who carried out the robberies clutching a kitchen knife with his face covered and hood up, had 149 previous convictions and had been offending since the age of 12. His accomplice and getaway driver McClafferty had clocked-up 57 offences and had started committing crimes in 2002 when he was 19.

They pleaded not guilty to the crimes, so distressed shopkeepers had to give evidence in court about the incidents which happened three years ago. Despite the terrifying nature of the robberies, the men only got away with less than £1,000 in total. A jury convicted them of the crimes after deliberating yesterday morning.

At about 9.25pm on January 9, 2018, the pair robbed the Co-op in Gladstone Street, Desborough, stealing £162 and cigarettes.

Then at about 5pm on January 13, they robbed the Co-op in High Street, Broughton, getting away with £172.

Later that evening, at about 9.30pm, they robbed the Spar in Coventry Road, Market Harborough, getting away with £400 and stamps worth £100.

And three days later, on January 16, the pair robbed Co-op in High Street, Brigstock, stealing £250 in cash.

A car which McClafferty had borrowed was used in the robberies and a hoodie belonging to Woods was found by police in the getaway vehicle. Mobile phone evidence also placed McClafferty at the scenes.

Her Honour Judge Rebecca Crane, who described the offences as 'very nasty', said: "They were all small local stores.

"Gary Woods went into the stores with his face covered, brandishing a kitchen knife and demanded cash be put in a bag.

"CCTV shows how terrifying it must have been for the shop assistants."

The court heard compelling evidence from several of the shop workers, one of whom had the knife pointed at her, who was still distressed by the incident three years on.

Following yesterday's verdict, the jurors heard that Woods had 149 previous convictions, mostly for fraud, dishonesty and motoring. But there were also a horrifying robbery offence from August 2018, for which Woods was sentenced to six-and-a-half-years in jail, a sentence he is still serving.

He had got into a woman's vehicle and, after a struggle, had stabbed her with a needle. He was on licence for a previous offence at the time.

In 2009 the Northants Telegraph told how Woods, who then lived in Kettering, had clocked up four driving bans in ten years and had more than 20 driving convictions. He had been in and out of prison since he was 13 with the longest period of freedom just seven months long.

The court also heard of McClafferty's shocking antecedent record which began in 2002. His offences were for fraud, dishonesty, theft and driving as well as a shop robbery in 2014 which involved a struggle with the shop assistant.

Most of the pair's offending was as a result of drug addiction and the court was told that numbers linked to drug dealers were called from McClafferty's phone soon after stealing the money.

No mitigation was offered for either man. Both had their sentences reduced by three months because of the effect of Covid-19 on prisoners and Woods was given a lesser sentence because the context of his current consecutive jail term was considered.

Woods was sentenced to seven years and nine months in jail and McClafferty was given eight years and nine months. Both will have to serve two thirds of their sentence before being considered for release.

Witness David Brooking, who chased the robbers away from the scene of one of the crimes and provided their registration number to police, was commended by the judge and will be given a £100 award by the High Sheriff of Northamptonshire.