Men found guilty of robbery at Dorset farm (From Dorset Echo)

Men found guilty of robbery at Dorset farm

11:30am Wednesday 2nd November 2011 in News

FOUR men were yesterday found guilty of the violent robbery of a 78-year-old man at his remote Dorset farmhouse.

Michael Seddon, 22, Samir Lammali, 21, and Jake Borland, 21, subjected farmer Leonard Langdown to a two-hour ordeal during which he was tied up, beaten and threatened at his Bloxworth home.

During the raid the trio, who all wore balaclavas, threatened to kill Mr Langdown, threatened to cut off his fingers with a pair of long handled pruning shears and to stab his dog unless he gave them the keys to the safe.

Caleb Holland, 43, was not at the scene of the robbery but drove his ‘criminal colleagues’ to and from the farm and was described as providing crucial information about the farmhouse and what was in the safe. They stole 17 shotguns, two rifles, £4,000 in cash and Mr Langdown’s Toyota pick-up truck.

All four men denied robbery but yesterday a jury at Bournemouth Crown Court found them guilty.

Seddon of Bootle in Merseyside, Lammali, of Alton Road in Bournemouth, and Borland, of Beswick Avenue Bournemouth, were handed an indeterminate prison sentence for public protection. They were told they would have to serve at least seven and a half years before the parole board would consider whether it was safe to release them.

Lammali was also found guilty of possession of a firearm and was given a three-year prison sentence to run concurrently.

Holland, of Bedford Road South, Poole, was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

A fifth man, Ryan Dear, 21, of Frensham Close, Bournemouth, was acquitted of handling stolen goods. He had previously pleaded guilty to possession of firearms and was jailed for 12 months.

The court has heard guns were later found in Kinson Common and Redhill Common, some of which belonged to Mr Langdown.

A further stash of guns were found in a store at a house in Moore Avenue, which formerly belonged to Ryan Dear’s family. Leonard Langdown had earlier told the court how the barrel of a gun was forced into his forehead so hard it drew blood and how the raiders threatened to blast his knees off.

During video interviews played at Bournemouth Crown Court, Mr Langdown said: “They kept shouting: ‘Where’s the keys?’ and ‘Where’s the money?’ and then they said: ‘Now we are going to shoot you’.

“That’s when one of them pushed the barrel right into my forehead and drew blood. A 78-year-old had no chance – I said my prayers.”

Passing sentence, Judge Christopher Harvey Clark said: “It hardly bears thinking about the torture to which you were prepared to put that elderly, vulnerable, defenceless man through.”

Speaking about the indeterminate sentence, Judge Harvey Clark added: “In my opinion you Borland, you Lammali, you Seddon present a significant risk of serious harm to the public. I am satisfied you are a danger.”

He commended the police team for their ‘extremely well organised investigation’.