Charlene Shaw outside Warwick Crown Court, where she was jailed for five years
A woman who was caught on CCTV posing as a Good Samaritan while her boyfriend and his gang of axe-wielding robbers has been jailed for five years.
Charlene Shaw acted as a lookout while her partner Marcus Cohen and four other armed robbers smashed a cash delivery guard in the face with an axe before fleeing with £75,000.
The 39-year-old watched as two security guards carried ATM cash boxes into the Texaco garage in Cheylesmore, Coventry, on March 6.
When the final box was taken inside, she tipped off the rest of the gang who ambushed the guards.
Chilling footage of the raid was released by West Midlands Police as three members of the gang were jailed for nearly 60 years after being linked to two other robberies.
Footage shows the security guard begin to close a petrol station gate behind him before the three masked thugs barge through and march him into a back office to demand he opens the safe.
They shout ‘open it now!’ and ‘don’t f*** about’ before one of them slashes the victim in the face, leaving him bloodied. The victim pleads with them, insisting he can’t open the safe, before one of the gang shouts ‘go, go, go!’ and they flee.
Shaw pretended to be trying to help the security guard but in fact was trying to find out what information he was going to pass onto the police.
![Marcus Cohen](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/08/07/18/17007260-7333853-image-m-26_1565198227808.jpg)
![Ashley Bell](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/08/07/18/17007262-7333853-image-a-27_1565198232099.jpg)
Marcus Cohen, 39, was jailed for 21 years, while Ashley Bell, 33, was jailed for 22 years
![At one point, one of the Shaw - who was acting as a lookout - is seen on CCTV strolling across the forecourt of the Texaco in Cheylesmore, Coventry, to check on the gang's progress](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/08/07/18/17007232-7333853-image-m-25_1565198222505.jpg)
At one point, one of the Shaw – who was acting as a lookout – is seen on CCTV strolling across the forecourt of the Texaco in Cheylesmore, Coventry, to check on the gang’s progress
![Footage shows the security guard close a petrol station gate behind him before the gang of three masked thugs barge through](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/09/09/12/17007238-7443457-Footage_shows_the_security_guard_close_a_petrol_station_gate_beh-a-13_1568030214479.jpg)
Footage shows the security guard close a petrol station gate behind him before the gang of three masked thugs barge through
The worker suffered a smashed cheekbone during the attack on March 6 last year and was left so traumatised that he resigned from his job.
![Charlene Shaw has been jailed for five years after aiding the gang in the robbery](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/09/09/12/18251350-7443457-image-a-12_1568030182781.jpg)
Charlene Shaw has been jailed for five years after aiding the gang in the robbery
The gang began their wave of violence last February when Ashley Bell, Marcus Cohen and Thomas Bruce forced their way into a Co-op in Stretton, Derbyshire, at around 6am.
Terrified workers were bound up with cable ties and threatened with a crowbar before the gang made off with £13,000, stamps and lottery cards.
A month later they struck the Texaco in Cheylesmore, after being joined by another man, Connor Sanderson, as well as Cohen’s girlfriend Shaw, who acted as a lookout.
The final raid was at Co-op in Shepshed, Leicestershire, just before 6am on May 10.
Three men forced their way into the shop using crowbars.
Staff locked themselves in an office and raised the alarm, but the men got away with cash, stamps and CCTV from the scene.
After Sanderson, Cohen and Bell were arrested for another burglary, they were interviewed in prison about the robberies.
![The victim pleads with them, insisting he can't open the safe, before one of the gang shouts 'go, go, go!' and they flee](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/09/09/12/17007240-7443457-The_victim_pleads_with_them_insisting_he_can_t_open_the_safe_bef-a-14_1568030219078.jpg)
The victim pleads with them, insisting he can’t open the safe, before one of the gang shouts ‘go, go, go!’ and they flee
![The gang then march him into a back office to demand he opens the safe](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/09/09/12/17007244-7443457-The_gang_then_march_him_into_a_back_office_to_demand_he_opens_th-a-15_1568030220536.jpg)
![They shout 'open it now!' and 'don't f*** about' before one of them slashes the victim in the face, leaving him bloodied.](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/09/09/12/17007246-7443457-They_shout_open_it_now_and_don_t_f_about_before_one_of_them_slas-a-16_1568030220538.jpg)
The gang then march him into a back office to demand he opens the safe. They shout ‘open it now!’ and ‘don’t f*** about’ before one of them slashes the victim in the face, leaving him bloodied.
Police found text messages between the gang discussing stolen cigarettes, CCTV footage showing gang members carrying out recces of targets and other videos of the men wearing clothing they later wore during robberies.
An investigation by the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) identified the gang and proved their involvement in two other robberies.
Last month Cohen, 39, Ashley Bell, 33, and Connor Sanderson, 21, were jailed for a total of 60 years after admitting robbery and theft charges at Warwick Crown Court.
On Friday, Shaw, from Hinckley, Leicestershire, found guilty of conspiracy to commit robberies and jailed for five years.
A fifth member of the gang, Thomas Bruce, 29, of Coventry, was also found guilty of conspiracy to rob and was jailed for 14 years.
![Connor Sanderson](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/08/07/18/17007252-7333853-image-m-28_1565198235673.jpg)
![Thomas Bruce](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/08/07/18/17007254-7333853-image-a-29_1565198238836.jpg)
Connor Sanderson, 21, was sentenced to 14 years behind bars, while Thomas Bruce will be sentenced on August 28
Jailing Shaw, Judge Anthony Potter told her: ‘You were involved in the Texaco robbery. I am quite satisfied you appreciated the full nature of the operation and the role you were expected to play.
‘Afterwards you cynically approached the staff to establish what they had seen and heard so you could inform Cohen what the police would be told. Yours was a trusted role.
‘But I do accept you were put under pressure, and that without Mr Cohen’s involvement you would not have committed this offence.’
Scott Bowman, 29, of Radford in Coventry, is still wanted for questioning.