Crime boss faces years behind bars after trial costing millions

Dennis Slade was convicted on robbery charges yesterday at Leeds Crown Court at the end of a three-month trial carried out amid high security expected to cost millions, which saw armed police escort him to and from prison and while at court.

It was only after delivering their verdict that the jury heard Slade was found guilty at a trial last year of conspiracy to murder another criminal which could not previously be reported.

That trial too lasted months and was also subject to tight security, with the West Yorkshire police helicopter hovering overhead as the police convoy carried its human cargo to and from court.

Police believe Slade's high life of expensive cars and holidays abroad was funded by his criminal enterprises.

After enjoying life in Spain he moved back to Yorkshire, first Harrogate and then Leeds, buying a house in Sandmoor Drive, Alwoodley, one of the county's most expensive streets.

There he plotted robberies against security vans, Post Offices and other targets, including, it is suspected, a depot handling cash which on one night contained 13m.

Initially some were successful, such as a dramatic strike against a security van near Warrington in which his gang got away with more than 1m, but eventually police mounted a surveillance operation against him which led to his downfall.

Officers were watching as he or gang members toured North and West Yorkshire from Brighouse to Boroughbridge, from Thirsk to Otley on one day alone, scouting for suitable targets. Eventually detectives moved in and made arrests when the murder plot was uncovered.

Slade had first appeared in court as a teenager when he left a woman seriously injured as she tried to stop him stealing a car and he spent weeks on the run when he escaped from custody after his arrest.

West Yorkshire Police justified the high level of security around the court because of his history.

Slade, 34, will be sentenced later this month with three of his gang. He was unanimously found guilty by the jury yesterday of conspiracy to rob drivers and guards of cash in transit vans between January 1, 2007 and March 2008, and of conspiracy to rob Sainsbury's at Colton, Leeds, between October 2007 and March 2008. That raid was foiled because a member of staff heard the gang breaking in.

He was convicted by a 10-2 majority of robbery of Securitas employees near Warrington on March 8, 2006 when their van was sandwiched between a low loader and a tractor, and by a 11-1 majority of robbery at Crossgates Post Office, Leeds, on December 12, 2007 the target of a ram-raid with a digger.

Slade was found guilty at the previous trial along with Richard Pearman and Michael Baxter, of conspiracy to murder, handling a stolen car, arson and damage to a car.

Pearman, 35, of Sherburn Approach, Swarcliffe, Leeds, was also convicted unanimously of the two robbery conspiracies and robbery at Crossgates Post Office. He was found guilty by an 11-1 majority of the Securitas robbery.

Baxter, 34, of Pennyfield Close, Meanwood, Leeds, was found guilty by a 10-2 majority of the Securitas robbery. He had previously pleaded guilty to both conspiracies to rob and the Crossgates Post Office robbery.

A fourth man, James Robert Hudson, 26 of King Alfred's Drive, Meanwood, has also admitted robbery at Crossgates Post Office and conspiracy to rob Sainsbury's.

A police spokesman said: "The convictions of these men demonstrate the specialist skills West Yorkshire has to ensure the most serious criminals are put before the courts and convicted."