Two brothers robbed a jewellery shop and took off with a £15,000 Rolex after disguising themselves as elderly men with “extremely life-like” latex masks.
The pair might have got away with it – if they hadn’t abandoned the masks in the boot of the car.
Several weeks after the robbery, one of the brothers was stopped by police while driving.
In the car were the two masks, still carrying the brothers’ DNA, along with a bag containing a hatchet, knife and cable ties.
George Murphy-Bristow was arrested at the scene. After a forensic examination of the saliva in the masks linked the brothers to the robbery, Murphy-Bristow and his older brother Benjamin Murphy were arrested separately.
Arriving at the jeweller’s on Epping High Street on 27 September 2021, the pair were the spitting image of two elderly men.
The masks featured a bald patch and grey hair as well as aged and wrinkled skin. Blue medical masks partially concealed their faces.
The masks were “extremely life-like”, Essex Police said in a statement.
Gloves and a trench coat completed the disguise. The jacket was also found in the car.
The brothers gained entry to the shop by threatening the staff.
Once inside, they cable-tied a staff member to a chair and stole a Rolex from their wrist.
Brandishing a knife and a hatchet axe, the pair searched the staff area before the alarm was raised and the men escaped using a vehicle parked outside.
The brothers have been jailed for a combined total of 31 years following a three-day trial at Basildon Crown Court.
Murphy, 37, was found guilty of robbery and two counts of possession of a bladed article. He received an 18-year custodial sentence.
Murphy-Bristow, 28, was convicted of robbery, two counts of possession of a bladed article, and going equipped for theft. He was jailed for 13 years.
The brothers both denied their part in the robbery when they first appeared at Southend-on-Sea Magistrates’ Court in June 2021.
