Hammer-wielding thug jailed after bookies raid
TWO FEMALE STAFF MEMBERS WERE TERRIFIED BY ARMED RAIDER
A masked robber who terrified two women workers during a betting shop raid while armed with a claw hammer has been put behind bars.
Thomas Brand, who has previously served a 12 year prison sentence for conspiracy to murder, stormed in to the Coral bookmakers in Roker Avenue, Sunderland wearing a ski mask and demanded cash.
When one of the frightened workers tried to reach for the panic button to summon help, the 45-year-old raider, who was brandishing the hammer, warned her not to touch anything.
After filling a bag with notes and coins from the till, Brand made off on a bike with more than £600 in takings.
He was arrested after police tracked his getaway route on CCTV and found where he had discarded his mask, which had Brand’s DNA on it.
Both women told detectives they were scared during the ordeal and one can be seen breaking down in tears when Brand leaves the shop at the end of the ordeal on December 10, which was captured in full on the shop’s CCTV.
Brand, of Brandling Street, Roker, Sunderland, admitted robbery.
At Newcastle Crown Court Judge Amanda Rippon jailed him for four years.
Brand also pleaded guilty to a burglary at the Lambton Worm pub in Sunderland city last October after he and an accomplice were caught fleeing the pub in the early hours of the morning after smashing their way in.
The court heard a 6ft by 4ft window was smashed during the raid and Brand dropped a bag containing £151 in pound coins taken from a fruit machine as he ran off.
Brand was on bail for the break-in when he committed the bookies raid.
After the betting shop robbery, Brand carried out a second pub burglary, which he pleaded guilty to, at the Hastings Hill pub in Sunderland in the early hours of December 30.
The court heard he and an accomplice caused £800 of damage when they smashed their way in to the bar and made off with a fruit machine.