‘I’ll blow your head off’ said gun robber jailed for city raids
A MAN armed with an imitation shotgun who threatened to “blow the head off” a Derby shop assistant has been jailed for a spate of robberies.
Andrew Fulop, 41, was sentenced to nine years in prison after he targeted a betting shop and a supermarket twice, each time threatening staff members with an imitation firearm.
Fulop, of no fixed abode, entered a Ladbrokes betting shop on Monk Street in Derby on Friday, April 23. He waited for customers to leave before walking up to the till and passing the attendant a slip.
He rested the barrels of the imitation gun on the counter and demanded cash from both members of staff, shouting at them to go faster, before riding off on his bicycle.
The next day, Fulop approached the counter at the Sainsbury’s Local on Farm Street before telling a member of staff that he would “blow her head off ”.
He then returned to the Sainsbury’s store on Monday, April 26, and again threatened a member of staff with what she believed to be a shotgun down his sleeve.
As the member of staff screamed and tried to activate the alarm, he was able to make off with cash.
Derbyshire police found fingerprints at the crime scenes, linking Fulop to the incidents.
Det Insp Pete Hundal, who helped oversee the investigation, said: “You cannot imagine the fear each member of staff must have felt when they were faced with what they believed was a shotgun, and subsequent distress it must have caused.
“There is no excuse for putting those workers through such a frightening ordeal, and we would like to thank all the victims and witnesses who supported our investigation.
DI Hundal added: “We welcome this custodial sentence which we hope will deter others from committing such offences and will not be tolerated in our communities.”
He was sentenced to a total of nine years, and three years’ extended licence, on Wednesday, December 1, at Derby Crown Court after pleading guilty to three counts of robbery and three counts of possession of an imitation firearm during the incidents.