AN author has been found guilty of a string of armed robberies – including one in Chadwell St Mary – and jailed for a minimum of 12 years.

Crime writer Terry Smith, 51, of Point Road, Canvey, was convicted after a second trial into the robberies, which included the shooting of commuter Adam Mapleson at Rayleigh station and an attack on a security guard at Martin’s newsagents in Defoe Parade, Chadwell St Mary, where £9,000 was stolen.

Mr Mapleson was lucky to survive when he was shot in the chest after he stepped in to help a female security guard as she was robbed in May 2007.

As well as being involved in planning, Smith was said to be the driver of the getaway vehicle after the shooting.

Mr Mapleson, then 25, was gunned down by another gang member, Brian Wall, 63, of Elstow Road, Dagenham, who has already been jailed.

The jury at Chelmsford Crown Court found Smith guilty of conspiracy to rob and conspiracy to possess firearms between September 1, 2006, and April 30, 2008.

His brother, Leonard Smith, 52, of Dagmar Road, Dagenham, was cleared of both offences.

Terry Smith had told the jury that after a previous 15-year jail sentence for armed robbery he had become a crime writer, appearing in the TV programme the Heist.

He also wrote books, including the Art of Armed Robbery and Nil Desperandum, but said he had nothing to do with any robbery.

Sentencing, Judge Charles Gratwicke told him: “You are dangerous and callous and you were deeply involved.

“Were it not for your arrest there would have been further robberies.

“You tried to explain it away by saying you were carrying out literary research.”

Armed raids were also carried out on security guards delivering money to cash machines at Beckton, East London, Witham, Pitsea, Vange and Basildon.

The biggest haul was £75,000, at Morrisons, in Witham, in September 2006.

Det Chief Supt Michael Field, from British Transport Police, said after the hearing: “He’s (Terry Smith) a man who touted himself around the media as a reformed character who had seen the light, but he continued to commit crime, frightening guards and the public out of their lives.”

Tight security, costing £1million, was in place during the transfer of Terry Smith from prison to court each day, and also at the court, with two armed officers outside the building during the two trials.

This was after Terry Smith had previously escaped from custody while being transferred from one prison to another while serving his previous 15-year sentence.