Shropshire woman, 31, cleared of village shop robbery

Angela Colohan burst into tears in the dock as not guilty verdicts were read out by the foreman of the jury following two hours of deliberations at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday.

The 31-year-old had denied charges of robbery and being in possession of an imitation firearm, a Beretta BB gun, with intent to commit the offence at the Corner Shop in Morda, near Oswestry.

She was found not guilty on both counts.

Colohan, of Hammonds Place, Gobowen, had been implicated in the robbery by Jamie Watkiss.

The 29-year-old has admitted being the masked man who pointed a gun at the terrified shop assistant before escaping with a till and two charity boxes and will be sentenced in court at a later date.

But as a witness in Colohan's trial, he told the jury the gun belonged to her and that it had all been her idea.

Watkiss said Colohan had acted as the getaway driver in the raid.

He also claimed that the pair had sped off in her Honda Accord after the robbery.

But giving evidence on Monday, Colohan insisted she had no knowledge of the robbery.

She said she had an alibi for the time of the raid and claimed witnesses had lied to the court.

Colohan told the jury that someone else must have used her car.

She said that at the time of raid she had been seeing an old friend and had also been in conversation with her estranged husband.

Under cross examination, Colohan said she did not tell police about her alibi because her friend was on a tag from court and her husband was subject to a restraining order.

Two prosecution witnesses told the jury that they had seen Colohan and Watkiss counting out money from a Hope House Children's Hospice charity box – one of the boxes taken in the raid.

Questioned by Mr Walter Bealby, prosecuting, Colohan claimed that they were both lying.

She said they were trying to implicate her in the robbery because they were afraid of Watkiss.

She told the jury that £68 in change that was found in a phone bag in her car when she was arrested was money given to her for petrol when she gave people lifts.

Earlier Watkiss, of Llys Road in Oswestry, told the jury he was the masked man.

He claimed that the Beretta hand gun, which was shown to the court, belonged to the defendant.

He said they were with others at a house in Gobowen when there was banter about a robbery, but he did not think it was serious.

"It was Angela's idea. She kept saying 'Let's do it' and she said we have 'got to do it now' and I agreed to take part," he said.

Watkiss alleged that Colohan was intent on going out on her own and so he went along and said he would go into the shop.