Men who robbed Brighton massage parlour jailed for five years each (From The Argus)

Men who robbed Brighton massage parlour jailed for five years each

3:55pm Tuesday 28th August 2012 in News By Anna Roberts, Crime reporter

Two armed robbers have been sentenced to five years each in prison for robbing a massage parlour.

Brighton Belles massage parlour in Montpelier Road was targeted on Sunday, April 29.

Milan Mraz, 31, and Akintunde Drummond-Brown, 21, both of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty at an earlier court hearing to possession of an offensive weapon, possession of an imitation firearm and three counts of robbery.

Detective Constable Ed Downes from Brighton and Hove CID said: "I am pleased that Mraz and Drummond-Brown have received considerable custodial sentences - I hope it will go some way to comfort the staff at the massage parlour who were threatened and made to fear for their lives during what should have been the normal course of their business.

“Mraz and Drummand-Brown were swiftly arrested by armed officers shortly after the 3.30am robbery.

"Mraz was arrested in Western Road with an imitation firearm and Drummand-Brown was arrested in North Road, with two large kitchen knives and several hundred pounds taken from staff and the safe.

“There were seven staff, one man and six women, and two customers present at the time of the robbery.

"Some of the staff received minor bruising but fortunately none of them required hospital treatment. They were all visibly shocked by their ordeal. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their support and cooperation during the investigation.”

On hearing today's sentence the owner of Brighton Belles massage parlour said: "We feel that this is a totally appropriate sentence and we now just want to move on and put the whole incident behind us. We have added even more security to our premises - but hopefully we will never have to experience anything like this again. "

We would like to thank DC Ed Downes and his team for their help and support and in helping us get justice."

For a full interview with the owner of the parlour see tomorrow’s Argus.