Armed robber’s zimmer getaway

A disabled armed robber who held up two shops was caught as he made his escape on a zimmer frame. Kevin Staples, 59, was detained by a security guard as he slowly shuffled away from one of the stores he held up. He had hobbled up to the counter at the gift shop Past Times, produced a 12-inch bread knife and demanded the cashier empty the till.

Staples, who suffers from severe arthritis, back problems and needs a hip replacement, then tried to lunge towards the till. But when the shop assistant shouted at him he carefully put the weapon in a bag hanging on his zimmer frame before hobbling out. The slow-moving robber was caught by bemused security guards before he could limp out of the shopping centre in Crawley, West Sussex.



Two days previously, he had held up a Bottoms Up off-licence in Bournemouth, Dorset, by waving a walking stick in the air. He told staff: "Give me all the money from the safe or I'm going to batter you." When an assistant said he did not have access to the safe or till, Staples mumbled 'give me some fags then' before hobbling out of the shop with the stick.

Staples pleaded guilty to robbery, attempted robbery and assault by beating. He claimed that voices in his head had told him to steal money for the stores. He was jailed indefinitely by judge Christopher Harvey Clark who told him: "In my view you are a dangerous man." He told Staples he could not be considered for parole for at least four years.