Jail for diamond ring robber who targeted Oxford auction house

The robber who attacked him at Oxford auctioneers’ Mallams, Adil Khan, kept his head bowed on Friday morning as Oxford Crown Court heard how he had robbed two auction houses in cross-border raids committed within five days of each other in April.

The 30-year-old, who was out of prison on licence at the time for a five year sentence for dealing drugs, was said to have carried out the robberies to pay off a drugs debt.

Jailing him for eight years and imposing an extended four year licence period, Judge Ian Pringle KC said: “It’s said that you were under the guidance of those who supplied you drugs and you were repaying drug debts. Your drug debt must have been very big.” The rings he had targeted had a combined estimated value of almost £100,000.

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Prosecutor Matthew Knight told the court that Khan went into Moreton in Marsh auction house Kinghams on the afternoon of April 20 and asked to see two diamond rings, variously valued at £30,000 to £40,000 and £20,000 to £30,000.

Khan’s hands were shaking as he inspected the two rings. Claiming to have left his at home, he asked the auctioneer’s assistant for a magnifying glass called a ‘loupe’.

The assistant asked what he was going to do with the jewellery. He said he had a buyer and was handed a report detailing the quality of the rings.

But he put the rings on his fingers, dropped the report he had just been handed and ran off to the door.

Already suspicious of Khan, staff had locked the front door. Undeterred, the robber picked up a chair and threatened staff members in an increasingly desperate attempt to get out.

Adil Khan kept his head bowed during Friday's court hearing Picture: TVP (Image: Thames Valley Police)

Arranging his hands as if he had a gun, he shoulder barged the door and demanded of staff: “Open the door or I’m going to shoot.”

The police had already been called, but, fearing for staff members’ safety, the manager decided to open the door and let Khan go.

He got into a waiting getaway car and sped away.

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The owner of one of the stolen rings said in a statement read to the court that it had belonged to her late aunt. She gave her niece the item intending for it to be sold so she could go on the ‘holiday of a lifetime’ or build a conservatory like her late relative’s.

Just five days later, on April 25, Khan was wearing a light-coloured suit when he went into Mallams auction house in St Michael’s Street, Oxford.

He gave a false name, Adam Mansoor, in the signing-in book and asked to see a diamond ring that was due to be sold in an upcoming auction.

As he was shown the ring, he pulled a claw hammer from a satchel and kept it raised above his head as he made for the door.

The incident happened at Mallams in Oxford Picture: Oxford Mail (Image: Oxford Mail)

This time, security guard Andrew Bellman was there to protect the store. A former soldier, police officer of 22 years’ experience and a qualified close protection bodyguard now running his own contracting firm, Mr Bellman was able to get the better of Khan. Bundling him to the floor, he lay on top of the robber until the police arrived.

While grappling with him, Mr Bellman’s watch was damaged. Khan also bit the guard’s hand as he was pinned to the ground.

In a victim personal statement, the hero ex-cop said the reality of what happened only began to sink in after the incident.

“I genuinely feared for my life,” he wrote in the statement.

“I believed he was going to attack me. [It was a] I’m not going to die today moment, which resulted in my subsequent actions.”

The ring was recovered and later sold for £48,000 at auction.

Mitigating, Dudley Beal said his client’s early guilty plea was ‘in reality all that Mr Khan has going for him’. The defendant, now recalled to prison on licence, recognised the need to address his addiction to class A drugs.

Khan, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty at the first opportunity to robbery, causing actual bodily harm, criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon.

Sentencing, Judge Pringle told the defendant that he had ‘created terror’ during the first robbery and praised the bravery shown by Mr Bellman during the second.

He imposed a two year serious violence reduction order, which will begin on his release from custody.

The order gives officers enhanced powers to stop and search Khan without first suspecting him of wrongdoing., It also requires him to register his address with the police.