How detectives snared mask-wearing shop robbery culprit

“None of my team like to see this happen to shop staff, or to anyone for that matter.
“We see this pattern of offending, straight away every single person in our team is motivated to work on their own strands of the investigation to prevent this happening again.”

Those are the words of Detective Sergeant Dan Smith, who, together with his team in Braintree CID, secured an eight-year prison sentence for a man who donned a Halloween-style horror mask before robbing five shops.

He is speaking during Sceptre week, a national week of action targeting knife crime.

Throughout the week, police forces across the country are focusing on their ongoing work to tackle knifepoint robberies.

In Essex, we have seen a fall in the number of recorded robberies over the past five years, underscored by a consistency in securing lengthy prison sentences for offenders.

Just last month, the work of Braintree CID secured a prison sentence for 49-year-old Daniele Aldegheri, who used numerous weapons – including a knife – to target five shops.

This extensive work included the trawling of dozens of hours of CCTV footage, the forensic tracking of mobile phones and tracing of vehicle movements.

The investigative team established on each occasion the culprit would strike just prior to the shop closing.

The robberies

On 14 February this year, a masked Aldegheri entered a Co-op store in Silver End armed with a metal baton, approaching staff and demanding they open the till.

He used the baton to hit the Perspex screen door by the till. He stole a three-figure sum of cash.

On 30 July this year, he entered a Morrisons Daily in Braintree armed with a knife, threatening staff and stealing a three-figure sum of cash from the till.

And days later, on 4 August, he entered a Co-op store in Hatfield Peverel, forcing staff to open the till at knifepoint and stealing around £100.

On 15 August, he targeted a Morrisons Daily in Witham, waving a knife at staff and stealing a four-figure sum of cash.

The team’s investigation into the four Essex robberies established a clear link with a previous robbery at a book shop, in Ipswich.

On 15 January this year, he entered the shop just prior to closing, threatening a member of staff with a screwdriver before leaving with the till drawer. On that occasion, he did not wear a mask.

Partnership working with Suffolk Police established facial recognition software, used with a CCTV image of the perpetrator, produced a 71% match for Aldegheri.

Further to this, a vehicle attributed to Aldegheri was traced in Ipswich at the time of this robbery.

Detailed descriptions of clothing he wore during each offence, forensic analysis of CCTV and identification of a key vehicle proved pivotal in identifying the suspect.

Aldegheri was arrested at his home on 3 September this year. He tried to evade arrest and officers found him hiding underneath a duvet.

'A real push from the whole team'

Prosecuting barrister Edward Lewis later told a sentencing hearing at Basildon Crown Court:

“He was found out because police unravelled this case really rather efficiently.”

Detective Sergeant Dan Smith, of Braintree CID, added:

“It was the potential for escalation which we found so worrying in this case.
“He’s gone from using some form of blunt instrument to make these threats, then a knife in the later robberies.
“He says himself during one robbery that he’s desperate. If someone is desperate enough to continue to escalate their offending, there is the potential for things to become violent in their need to get more money.
“That, plus the fact that the bringing of a knife to any crime scene immediately elevates the risk of someone coming to serious harm, meant we knew we had to dedicate the necessary time and resources to stopping him.
“We were all worried, as all it takes is for someone to confront him, to take that step of getting into that confrontation, for that knife to potentially be used and then we’re looking at potentially serious injuries.
“None of my team like to see this happen to shop staff, or to anyone for that matter.
“We see someone being robbed at knifepoint and straight away every single person in our team is motivated to work on their own strands of the investigation to prevent this happening again.
“When we start to link all of this work together and we identify a suspect, then every shift is looking to contribute – be it with an arrest attempt, or making a slideshow of their CCTV evidence, or going back to the CCTV to review it to find something we hadn’t previously seen.
“It was a real push from everyone, led by myself and the two other Detective Sergeants in Braintree CID, that got us to where we needed to be.”

During the sentencing hearing, the court heard Aldegheri had resorted to seeking help from a loan shark to fund the purchase of morphine for his chronically ill partner.

His barrister said these financial troubles had motivated him in committing each robbery and that he had never intended to harm his victims.

He admitted five counts of robbery and three counts of possession of a knife in a public place.

The court heard he had previously served a prison sentence in Italy for robbery.

Detective Chief Inspector Rob Huddleston, who heads up Investigations in North Essex, added:

“His motives in this case go some way to explaining why he carried out these robberies and show the wider personal circumstances or difficulties which often lie behind this type of offending.
“However, his motivations do nothing to excuse his behaviour. These were terrifying offences which left victims suffering an ongoing psychological impact.
“No-one who works in our shops and businesses deserves to be threatened with a knife and robbed in this manner.
“They have every expectation that they will be protected, that they will be safe in going to work each morning and serving customers.
“We work day-in, day-out to protect businesses from criminals like Aldegheri. This result demonstrates our commitment.
“Equally our businesses across Essex – big and small – deserve to feel able to operate, to protect their employees, to make a profit, without the threat of this type of serious offending hanging over their heads.
“That is why we prioritise tackling robbery and knife-enabled crime in Essex.
“We devote countless hours and resources towards solving these crimes and brining the perpetrators to justice.
“While Sceptre week highlights and promotes this activity, it is very much 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for teams across the force.”

In the 12 months to 12 November 2024, we recorded a 6% decrease in overall robbery when compared with the same 12-month period last year.

The 1,362 robberies recorded in the year to date also marks a decrease of 19% when compared with the 12 months to December 2019.

'We work in close partnership with Essex Police'

Lee Hammond, Head of Security for the East of England Co-op, said:

“This outcome reflects our commitment to dealing with crime in our stores and sends a strong message that such actions will not be tolerated.
“Crime of any kind can have a profound impact on those involved, their families and the wider community.
“That is why we continue to invest in technology, such as body-worn cameras and CCTV across all of our 120 branches throughout the East of England.
“The evidence we collect through these technologies, supports the police services to identify offenders and secure convictions.
“We will continue to work in close partnership with Essex Police to share evidence and intelligence to ensure these prolific offenders are taken off the street and held accountable for their actions.”

A Morrisons spokesperson added:

"We are delighted to be working in partnership with Essex Police to keep our communities safe.
"We report all crime to the police and provide evidence.
"The excellent response from Essex has resulted in this offender being brought to justice."

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Find out more about the code and to understand the rights of a victim of crime, on our Support for victims and witnesses of crime page.

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