Suspects carried out other raids

Four men deny the murder of Craig Hodson-Walker

Two men accused of killing a man and wounding his father during a post office raid have previous robbery convictions, a jury has heard.

Craig Hodson-Walker, 29, died when he was shot in the heart by raiders in Fairfield, Worcestershire, in January.

The court heard two of the four men accused had been involved in post office raids before.

Anselm Ribera, Adrian Snape, Christopher Morrissey and his brother Declan Morrissey all deny murder.

They also deny the attempted murder of Mr Hodson-Walker's father, Ken, who was shot in the leg.

Blood match

Birmingham Crown Court heard that in 2002 Mr Ribera, of Topfield House, Druids Heath, Birmingham, was convicted of robbery at a post office in Redditch Road, Kings Norton.

A concrete block had been thrown through a security screen and two balaclava-clad men made off with £4,000, the court heard.

Blood found at the scene matched Mr Ribera's.

The jury also heard that Christopher Morrisey, of Elmay Road, Sheldon, Birmingham, had previously been convicted of three counts of robbery - all of which took place in Gateshead during the late 1990s.

Two of the raids were at post offices, and a third involved cash being seized from a security van.

During one of the post office raids, the jury heard, a concrete block was used to smash security glass before a raider stood on the post office counter and pointed a sawn-off shotgun at the postmaster.

Adrian Snape, of Camelot Way, Small Heath, Birmingham; Christopher Morrissey; Declan Morrissey, of Shirley Park Road, Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands; and Mr Ribera further deny possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Mr Ribera and the Morrissey brothers also deny attempted robbery.

Snape has pleaded guilty to attempted robbery, admitting that he was the getaway driver.

The trial continues.