A FATHER-of-four is beginning a life sentence today after holding up a terrified jewellery shop assistant with an imitation firearm.Judge John Sennitt, sitting at Bury St Edmunds Crown Court, yesterday said he was left with no choice but to impose a mandatory life term on 32-year-old Lee Devereux following the raid, in broad daylight, last June.
A FATHER-of-four is beginning a life sentence today after holding up a terrified jewellery shop assistant with an imitation firearm.
Judge John Sennitt, sitting at Bury St Edmunds Crown Court, yesterday said he was left with no choice but to impose a mandatory life term on 32-year-old Lee Devereux following the raid, in broad daylight, last June.
Legislation states a defendant who has committed two offences deemed to be serious enough must receive an automatic life sentence. Devereux, a heroin addict, has a history of offending and was convicted in 1991 of attempted robbery and carrying a firearm.
Devereux, formerly of Cordell Road, Long Melford, pulled the weapon on the female assistant in the Sudbury branch of jewellers H Samuel in Market Hill last June before escaping with a tray of gold wedding rings.
N Robbers have small businesses in their sights see pages six and seven.
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