DRUNK BANK ROBBER GETS 3 YEARS JAIL
HE FLED WITH JUST £140 AND WAS ARRESTED SAME DAY AT NEARBY BOOKIES
A DRUNK robber who threatened to blow a Nuneaton bank cashier’s head off has been jailed for three years.
Stephen Cheshire went into the NatWest bank in Nuneaton town centre unarmed, but put his finger in his camouflaged coat pocket to make it look like he had a gun.
He fled with just £140 but justice was swift and the 55-yearold was arrested later the same day at a nearby betting shop.
The robbery at 11.50am on April 28 this year was witnessed by a large number of customers as it came on the day when NatWest’s online banking system crashed - causing more people than normal to use the branch.
Cheshire, of Tudor Road, Nuneaton, pleaded guilty to a charge of robbery last month at Warwick Crown Court and was sentenced on Monday at the same court.
Prosecutor Richard Franck said: “He walked straight to the front of the queue with his left hand out of his jacket and his right hand in his jacket pocket.
“He pointed to his hand and says to the cashier ‘I will blow your f ****** head off ’ while demanding money.
“The cashier opens the cash drawer and handed £140 in cash to him.”
Once arrested, Cheshire answered no comment to all questions before telling officers that he couldn’t remember anything about what happened due to his issues with alcohol.
In a victim impact statement given to the court, the cashier said Cheshire “threatened my personal safety” and did not know if Cheshire would “seriously injure me or kill me, or others in the bank”.
Passing sentence, Recorder Alistair Smith told Cheshire: “You walked into NatWest wearing a camouflaged jacket, ignoring the queue.
“You went to the nearest cashier while keeping your hand in your pocket and pointed it towards the cashier and demanded money.
“You were clearly drunk even though it did little to diminish the risk you posed - the cashier believed you were carrying a firearm.
“You repeated your threat and the cashier did as your ordered and gave you money from the cash drawer.”
The judge said Cheshire was arrested at the Coral bookies in Abbey Road.
He added that Cheshire had a “poor criminal record” including 48 convictions for 87 offences, mostly low-level offences such as shoplifting, and being drunk and disorderly.
He also noted Cheshire’s current mental state and also noted he suffered from depression and alcohol dependency.
But the judge told Cheshire: “This was a serious offence and genuine attempt to get money whilst using a threat of force.
“Banks are a necessary public service and staff must be protected from threats of violence.”
On Cheshire’s behalf, his barrister Cathlyn Orchard suggested that due to how drunk Cheshire was at the time, staff could not have believed he was a “serious risk” to them.
She also states that Cheshire’s recent crimes have been “low level offending”, and adds: “He has been a petty offender and this is out of his character.
“Being drunk is often considered an aggravating factor on an offence.
“But in this case his very drunkenness is one of the circumstances that appears to lead the people in the bank not to take him overly seriously.”
You were clearly drunk even though it did little to diminish the risk you posed – the cashier believed you were carrying a firearm. Recorder Alistair Smith