Magistrate's daughter becomes unwitting getaway driver in armed bank robbery

A woman whose toyboy ex-lover tricked her into becoming a getaway driver while he carried out a plan to rob a bank spoke out about her ordeal today.

Jacqueline Jolley reluctantly agreed to give her on-off boyfriend Carl Benson, 30, and his friend a lift into Wigan, Greater Manchester, after he said he needed to go the benefits office.

But the 50-year-old woman was later arrested by police and charged with robbery after it emerged that Mr Benson and his unknown accomplice had held staff at knifepoint in the Bradford & Bingley bank in Wallgate, Wigan, and fled with £4,350.

Miss Jolley, the daughter of a retired magistrate and a member of her local church choir and Bible study group, stood trial at Liverpool Crown Court, where she was acquitted of robbery and assisting an offender.

The jury believed her account that she had no idea Mr Benson and his accomplice were going to carry out a robbery.

She spent two days in custody following her arrest until her father agreed to pay her bail fee of £10,000.

Mr Benson, who was the raider with the knife and the cash, pleaded guilty to robbery.

Miss Jolley, a mother of three, said: "This whole episode has been very bizarre for me.

"I am genuinely innocent of any wrongdoing and the past six months have been unbelievably stressful for me.

"I couldn't believe it when I was arrested and I just wanted to hide myself away.

"I was worried people would be pointing fingers and I had to get my hair dyed so people wouldn't recognise me. Being branded an armed robber is simply not in my make-up.

"But thankfully, I have had huge support from friends and family people at the church and it is at times like this when you find out who your real friends are. They have been a rock to me.

"We're just relieved it is all over and we can get on with our lives. I have no idea how on earth we could be caught up in all this. It was just a simply trip into town."

Prosecutors had claimed Miss Jolley was the getaway driver waiting outside the bank on October 17 last year, while the armed raid took place.

The court was told that CCTV footage revealed Mr Benson and his unknown accomplice sat inside Miss Jolley's silver Mitsubishi Colt for about two minutes before the two men got out and walked towards the bank.

Minutes after they left, Miss Jolley was said to have got out of the car to try and see where the men had gone.

Inside the Bradford & Bingley bank, the two men threatened staff with a knife and ordered them to hand over money.

Julie Burchall, one of the cashiers, added a £200 "raid pack", which releases red dye over the notes and red smoke as soon as it leaves the premises, as staff handed over £4,350.

The notes activated as the men fled the building and they raced along the high street.

The court heard how the men ran towards Miss Jolley's car, which she had reversed, and Mr Benson went to the passenger side of the vehicle and continued running alongside it as she pulled out.

She drove the men to Worsley Mesnes, in Wigan, and dropped them off before continuing on her way to work in Warrington.

However, police had been alerted and her car was stopped as she drove on to the M6.

Miss Jolley, of Holmwood Close, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan, was arrested and she told police Mr Benson had rung her asking to go to the post office to get some money out of his account.

She did but there were no available funds, so he asked her to pick him up and take him to Wigan so he could go to the DSS benefits office to find out why there were no funds.

She said she reluctantly agreed but wasn't happy about it, nor was she happy that he had another man with him.

Miss Jolley said she dropped the men off but didn't have time to wait and was about drive away when Mr Benson banged on the window and told her to meet him round the corner.

She says she did this and innocently drove the men away, denying that she knew of their plans before and after the robbery.

Miss Jolley said she saw some of the bank notes with red dye on them but assumed they were just new.

Mr Benson is awaiting sentencing.