THE red dye security device that activates when cash boxes are being stolen helped lead to the conviction of five robbers who stole cash from a security van outside Sainsbury's at the Dome roundabout in Watford.

Many eyewitnesses saw red dye spewing out of the robbers' getaway car as it drove along the M1 on March 28, 2001, and reported it to the police.

The five men involved were convicted at Luton Crown Court last Thursday.

Four of the defendants were tried for two robberies one in Sainsbury's and another in Amersham.

The court heard how, at about 2.40pm on March 28, 2001, outside Sainsbury's, the offenders pushed a 61-year-old Securitas "cash-in-transit" custodian to the ground and stole £25,000 in a sealed cash box. The victim suffered cuts and bruises in the attack.

The methods were very similar to the ones the group used in the robbery in Amersham, outside a Nat West Bank, a month earlier.

Coincidentally, the victim was the same in both robberies.

After the robbers grabbed the cash box from outside the supermarket, they made off on foot towards the A41 and were pursued by a member of staff from Sainsbury's.

The men got into a stolen getaway car and drove off northbound along the M1.

Between junctions 8 and 9 the security device in the cash box activated and witnesses saw the red dye shooting out of the car.

When the defendants committed the robbery in Amersham, the smoke security device in the cash box was also activated, covering the money in red dye.

A combination of forensic evidence, eyewitness accounts and detective work led to the identification of Derek Taylor, 36, from Dunstable and Leroy Morris, 41, Craig Griffith, 29, and Alex O'Brien, 20, all from Luton.

Andrew Clarke, 26, from Cuttlers Green, Luton, was also convicted, not of the robbery, but of stealing and supplying one of the getaway vehicles to the gang.

He was fined £200 and ordered to pay £100 costs.

The jury took three hours to reach a unanimous verdict.

The four men have been remanded in custody until they will be sentenced on Friday, July 5.

June 20, 2002 16:00