THREE Ellesmere Port men have to return £50,000 taken during a string of high-profile robberies in the town.
Police have ordered the gang to pay back their ill-gotten gains after they raided:
KFC, Cheshire Oaks.
The Old Wirral Hundred pub, Great Sutton.
Ellesmere Port Conservative Club.
On Friday Chester Crown Court judge Thomas Teague ordered:
Robert John Forbes, 31, of Sutton Way, to pay back £23,574.
Steven Littler, 31, of Swale Road, to forfeit £20,612.
Philip Shone, 36, of Fleet Street, to repay £4,500.
Forbes and Littler were jailed for eight years on January 21 for their part in the robberies.
Shone, who initially denied any involvement, was jailed for three years on February 18 after admitting conspiracy to commit robbery from July 8, 2010, and September 20, 2010.
The first victim was Mark Roberts on April 5, 2009. They took £393.37.
On April 12 they targeted the Wirral Hundred in Capenhurst Lane, Great Sutton, robbing manager James Silker of £11,600.
More than 12 months later, on July 9, 2010, the pair turned their attention to KFC at Cheshire Oaks, using a baseball bat to take £2,861.
Then, on September 5, they attempted to rob the Conservative Club in Worcester Walk, Ellesmere Port.
The robbery of Damien Walters followed the next day, September 6, when £4,500 was taken.
The last of the offences was an attempted robbery on September 19 of another Conservative Club, this time in Tram Road, Buckley.
A police spokesman said: “Not only have they been brought to justice for the crimes they committed they have also been ordered to pay back a substantial amount of money that the courts have agreed was acquired through illegal gains.
“Our enquiries will continue to locate the outstanding assets owed by the three men.”
