Man robbed former workplace to convince wife he had a job

A man was jailed for four years after staging a £9,000 robbery at his former workplace in an effort to convince his wife he had a job. Martyn Goddard, 48, claimed it was back pay and handed her £200 before spending £90 on booking a party for his son. But he had lost his job weeks before the robbery at the discount shop in Swadlincote, Derbyshire in December.

He had also been evicted from his flat and was sleeping in his car. "His wife had been badgering him for a couple of weeks as to why he had no money. He spent the previous evening at her house and said he was going to see his employer about wages owed to him," said Sonal Ahya, prosecuting.



During the raid, Goddard dared not speak because he thought the worker would recognise his voice. So he grunted as he pointed a knife at the man, forcing him to open the safe. He admitted robbery and Judge John Burgess told him: "Plenty of people get their lives in a mess one way or another. What you did was completely disproportionate to the situation you found yourself in."

John Straw, mitigating, said Goddard's aged parents also thought he was still working. "He maintained the facade that he was still working but got into the situation of sleeping in his car. He hopes his marriage is something which can be saved but that is probably optimism rather than realism," he told Derby Crown Court. Mr Straw added: "He was in many ways bound to be caught because he had worked at the premises and was known to people he came across, albeit disguised."