12 years for bank manager who tipped off her crooked boyfriend

A 23-year-old fast-tracked bank manager who gave her boyfriend the vital inside information he needed to rob a West Yorkshire branch of more than £370,000 has been jailed for 12 years.

Members of Rachael Shariar-Namini's family looked stunned and hugged each other in shock after a judge at Leeds Crown Court handed down the lengthy sentence after saying she was "astonished" the young bank worker had thrown away such a promising career.

Judge Sally Cahill, QC, heard how Shariar-Namini's boyfriend, William Wormald, and his accomplice, Darren Ashcroft, cut their way through the roof of the NatWest branch in Hunslet, Leeds, in March.

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The court was told that the two men - who were masked and carrying crowbars - got away with 371,691 in cash which was waiting to be collected by a security guard.

The raid was the biggest cash robbery from a bank in the West Yorkshire region for a decade.

Shariar-Namini, of Victoria Avenue, Rothwell, Leeds, was found guilty of robbery in a trial earlier this year.

Wormald, 26, of Cranewells View, Colton, Leeds, and Ashcroft, 39, of Pennwell Dean, Stanks, Leeds, admitted robbery at a previous hearing and were jailed today for eight years each.

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A fourth defendant, David Cowie, 31, also of Pennwell Dean, pleaded guilty to robbery and was jailed for five years. He admitted being paid for providing a car for the raid.

Judge Cahill heard how Shariar-Namini was a cashier at the Hunslet branch before she was promoted to manager at another branch as part of a fast-tracking scheme.

Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, told the court how she gave Wormald information about bank layouts and procedures during a stay at the Park Plaza Hotel in central Leeds.

Crucially, Wormald discovered there was an unsecured route into the bank through the roof of the ladies toilet.

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He also found out there was a time on a Tuesday morning when cash was taken from the vault and put in a temporary storage unit where it waited to be collected by a security guard.

Judge Cahill told Shariar-Namini she provided the information which was essential for the raid.

She said: "You are a bright, hard-working girl who had a good future ahead of you. You have chosen to throw that away. It's astonishing, with that kind of future ahead of you, you chose to involve yourself as you did in this offence."

Judge Cahill said Shariar-Namini provided vital details of what the staff would do in the event of a raid.

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She told the two raiders: "You knew very well where you were going as the information you were given by Shariar-Namini was very, very clear indeed."

Judge Cahill told the tearful Shariar-Namini she had shown no remorse and rejected arguments she had been a "naive young lady".

"You knew full well what your boyfriend was going to do with the information you gave him. You were very much an integral part of this case."

The former bank employee told police she thought the plans she gave to Wormald had been thrown in the bin and it was all a joke.

Her barrister, Jason Pitter, said the only thing she had gained from the robbery was a teddy bear.

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