A HEROIN addict who was part of an armed gang that carried out a £240,000 raid on a Rowley Regis jewellery shop has been put behind bars for 10 years.

Steven Griffiths, aged 36, luck ran out when weeks later the gang tried to attack a second shop and he was trapped between security doors inside the premises until arrested by police.

He had been holding open the second door when the first closed leaving his accomplices who were carrying hammers and axes faced with the task of having to break through the door.

But the owner of the shop in Cape Hill, Smethwick was able to push Griffiths into the gap between the doors and he remained trapped until the arrival of police officers.

David Bennett, prosecuting, said: "The two raids were "co-ordinated, professional efforts that caused serious damage both financially and psychologically to the owners of both shops."

He told Wolverhampton Crown Court the shops were small, family run businesses and on each occasion there had been children present at the scene.

Griffiths who was smartly dressed had acted as a decoy for the gang who first raided a jewellers shop in High Street, Rowley Regis.

He had pushed the buzzer requesting access and he held the door open while the three robbers dashed in and they smashed display cabinets before snatching £240,000 worth of jewellery.

But their plans weeks later to rob the second jeweller's were scuppered when Griffiths was trapped between the doors.

The other three men managed to make their escape from the scene and they have not been arrested by police.

Griffiths, of Tippity Green, Rowley Regis, admitted robbery and attempted robbery and he was told by Judge John Wait the crimes were so serious only a substantial jail term was appropriate.

Lewis Perry defending told the court that Griffiths had managed to resolve his drug problem but he began using heroin again before the first robbery.

He stressed he had not been armed as the time and he has been the only member of the gang to be apprehended by police officers.

Griffiths, he added, had returned to drug taking and the other men had taken advantage of him at a time when he clearly had problems.