Three men who targeted Asian family, threatened to kill newborn in Wrexham home robbery are sentenced

Three men were sentenced to jail for the robbery of a family’s home in Wrexham, United Kingdom.

The burglars entered the home of Berinder Dhaliwal by smashing through the glass patio doors just before 2:30 p.m. in September 2020. The men snatched Dhaliwal’s baby from her hands and stole the jewelry she was wearing, including her wedding ring.

Dhaliwal, who was recovering from a Cesarean section performed just eight weeks prior to the robbery, was punched in the abdomen. One of the men, who were dressed in surgical masks and dark clothing, brandished a screwdriver and threatened to kill the newborn baby if Dhaliwal did not tell them where her gold was hidden. The mother pointed the robbers to a jewelry box before they stole its contents and fled the scene.

The suspects were identified as 22-year-old John Price, 23-year-old Scott Powell and 19-year-old Patrick Flynn. Price and Powell admitted to conspiring to commit robbery and assisting an offender by impeding apprehension. Flynn admitted to the charge of conspiring to commit robbery.

The investigators found stolen items belonging to Dhaliwal’s family at Powell’s home as well as clothing that connected Flynn to the robbery. Authorities discovered that the men had tried to “throw the police off” by hiding the black Volkswagen they used for the raid at a different address.

The mother said she felt “persistent anxiety and insomnia” after the robbery in an April 2022 victim impact statement. She reportedly feared wearing jewelry, and she has only returned to work as a pharmacist part-time.

“This was a pre-planned attack on a property where you knew an Asian family lived. Because of that, you believed that gold would be kept there,” Judge Niclas Parry said. “Rather than leave after being confronted with a lone female and her two-month-old baby, you called out for each other and charged her. You ripped a necklace from her neck and her wedding ring from her finger and brandished a weapon as she held onto her baby.”

He said that the incident was an “appalling and extremely serious crime” that left the mother with “severe psychological harm.”

Price was sentenced to jail for seven and a half years, and Flynn was given six years and two months. Powell was sentenced for a year and nine months.

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