A man who posed as a British Gas worker before taking part in a violent robbery at a Birkenhead family's flat has been jailed for 14 years. Haneef Chowdhury, 29, of no fixed address, was part of a gang that threatened to slit a five-year-old boy's throat and stole around £6,000 in cash and jewellery.
Robbery at Borough Road flat
Liverpool Crown Court heard on Friday that Chowdhury was among three men who targeted a flat on Borough Road in Birkenhead on January 25, 2022. The couple and their then five-year-old son were at home when two men forced their way in through a flat roof and a bathroom window, then let the third man in through the door.
The perpetrators struck and slapped the mother and father before threatening to cut their son's throat. A blade was pressed against the mother's neck, and the father's hand was held over a radiator as the gang warned they would sever it. The young boy "begged and pleaded with them not to hurt his mummy and daddy," prosecutor Gerry Baxter told the court.
British Gas disguise
The ordeal lasted about half an hour, during which the flat was ransacked and approximately £6,000 in cash plus jewellery were taken. The mother later identified Chowdhury as one of the attackers because he had visited the property six days earlier pretending to be a British Gas employee.
Mr Baxter said: "The crown's case is that the robbery had been carefully planned and this defendant not only visited the area on a number of occasions, but he was the one who went to the front door of the flat pretending to be an employee of British Gas. [The mum's] evidence was that he seemed to be trying to get into the flat, but she did not allow him in."
Sentencing and impact
A statement read on the father's behalf revealed he had suffered lasting memory difficulties following the attack and had been forced to travel to Bangladesh for dental treatment because the cost in the UK was beyond his means. The mother said the trauma had compelled the family to relocate to a different home.
Chowdhury admitted robbery midway through his trial. He was jailed for 14 years and handed an indefinite restraining order. His two co-conspirators have never been apprehended.
Sentencing, Judge Charlotte Crangle said the family had been preparing for the father to visit his sick mother in hospital in Bangladesh and had borrowed significant sums of money. She noted the boy had handed over the cash, and the mother was forced to hand over all of her wedding jewellery. The judge said the family's son still gets upset about the incident.
