Two gang members who are thought to have fled to Spain after raiding HSBC .

Two gang members who are thought to have fled to Spain after raiding HSBC .As reported yesterday Patrick McDonagh and Carl Hargin were jailed for stealing more than £300,000 from the Westbourne Road branch in an armed, daylight robbery in June.
Hargin, 24, got eight years and eight months and McDonagh, 28, got seven years and four months after admitting the offence.Det Chf Insp McDermott, of West Yorkshire Police’s crime division, said: “They were obviously dangerous and very professional in the way they planned and prepared the offence, using stolen vehicles, one of which was later burned out and abandoned.“The level of violence used at the scene was horrific and it was lucky the bank staff were not seriously injured.“It’s a good result to have got the sentences they received.”Hargin, of Salford, and McDonagh, of Cheetham Hill in Manchester, were part of a four-strong gang who armed themselves with a sledgehammer, a machete and a crowbar when they targeted the bank on the afternoon of June 26.After forcing staff to open the safe, they fled in a Vauxhall Vectra with hold-alls full of cash.The car was later burned out and the gang got in a van, which was spotted by police.It sparked a dramatic chase from Huddersfield to Manchester city centre, where Greater Manchester Police caught up with them in the Arndale Shopping Centre car park.Det Chf Insp McDermott said one of the gang attempted to strip off his clothes and hide behind cars before he was caught.Hargin and McDonagh were arrested, but the others escaped.Det Chf Insp McDermott added: “It was a great team effort between West Yorkshire Police and Greater Manchester Police. They reacted quickly to information we gave to them and in difficult circumstances managed to safely arrest two violent offenders.”He confirmed the other two gang members were thought to have fled to Spain and added: “We have identified who the other two suspects are, and they have been circulated as wanted.“The case is still a live inquiry and we are still actively pursuing them.”

Qamaruddin Munshi pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs

Qamaruddin Munshi, aged 28, was given a 1 series BMW by gang boss Christopher Pimblett, which he used on at least 15 occasions to transport kilos of heroin and other drugs to Glasgow.Munshi, of Avondale Street, Brownlow Fold, who worked as a postman in Greater Manchester by day, was caught red-handed by officers from Merseyside Police's drugs unit with a kilo of heroin in his car last April.He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs and was one of 17 people to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday.The gang was arrested on April 17, 2007, in a series of drugs raids following an 18-month covert investigation into drugs distribution across the country, but primarily between Merseyside and Strathclyde.
The main distribution centre for the drug supply was concentrated in St Helens, where gang leader Pimblett pulled the strings of his empire.
Pimblett, who sent around £40,000 worth of drugs to Glasgow each week for two years, was jailed for 12 years yesterday.He bought Munshi, who was his main courier, the BMW which he used to carry out his drug runs.