A BALACLAVA-wearing raider has been convicted of a professional gang robbery during which a shop employee was held prisoner at knifepoint.

Lee Brent Cox was among at least seven masked men who broke into a Selby store and got away with power tools and other items worth £22,000, Graham O’Sullivan, prosecuting, told York Crown Court.

They forced a staff member to hand over his keys and kept him in a delivery cage while they carried out the raid.

In evidence, Cox claimed he couldn’t be involved in the robbery as he was selling cannabis at the time elsewhere in Selby at the time of the raid.

But a York jury convicted him after hearing how police found balaclavas, the stolen keys and a list of the stolen tools all with his DNA or fingerprints on them.

Judge Simon Hickey told Cox: “It is an extremely serious offence. (The staff member) was held at knifepoint by a group of men who in my judgement planned and executed a professional commercial robbery.”

He said the store, Screwfix in Bawtry Road, Selby, had suffered economically as a result of the raid.

“Only one sentence can follow and that is a substantial custodial sentence,” said the judge.

Cox, 44, of Commonside, Batley, denied robbery and failure to provide police with his phone PIN number, but was convicted unanimously by the jury after a three-day trial.

He had pleaded guilty before the trial to being concerned in the supply of cannabis.

He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced in February alongside two co-accused on drug charges.

Opening the prosecution, Mr O’Sullivan said the staff member was an assistant manager at Screwfix on November 8, 2018.

The gang confronted him just after he had locked up. They forced him to go back into the store and stand in an empty delivery cage while they ransacked the store for tools before leaving with items worth £22,000 and the store keys.

Ten days later, police arrested Cox in his black Volkswagen. Another man was driving and his girlfriend was also in the car. In the car was a balaclava and the keys stolen in the robbery, both of which had Cox’s DNA on them.

In his girlfriend’s house, they found a notepad in an airing cupboard containing a list of items stolen in the raid with Cox’s fingerprints on it, said the barrister.

Evidence from mobile phone masts and automatic number plate recognition cameras showed that Cox had travelled to Selby at the time of the raid, said Mr O’Sullivan.

In evidence, Cox denied being part of the robbery. He alleged that anything found in his car could have his DNA on as it was his car.

He denied knowing anything about the balaclavas and alleged hat he hadn’t used them.

He claimed that the list of stolen tools was not in his handwriting and that £4,500 found in his possession at the time of his arrest was the result of drug dealing.

The jury heard another man had stayed at the girlfriend’s house in 2017 or 2018 and his possessions had been put in the airing cupboard.