Jail for robber who fell off getaway bicycle three times and lost bank notes from pocket

A bungling store raider has been jailed for his part in a "farcical" robbery. Timothy Broad, 30, chose a pedal cycle as his getaway vehicle for the robbery at a One Stop Store in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. But as he fled after the raid he fell off the bicycle three times.

His bobble-hat balaclava also flew off in one of the crashes, revealing his face. Bank notes stolen in the raid fluttered out of his pocket and initially he chased them up and down the road before abandoning the chase and running off. He was identified by DNA taken from the balaclava and blood on the abandoned cycle. Broad, formerly of Clacton, was jailed for three and a half years at Chelmsford Crown Court.



He admitted the November 21 robbery of £380 from shop assistant Sharon Benson, who had a knife held to her throat, and to having a bladed article. Judge Emma Peters said Broad’s attempt to escape after the robbery at the store in St John’s Road, Clacton, was “farcical”. She said the late-night raid, by Broad and an accomplice who has never been traced, had left women working there “utterly terrified”.

Judge Peters said she accepted Broad's accomplice was the one with the knife but said it was a joint venture. Nick Bonehill, prosecuting, said: "She was absolutely petrified.She said she couldn't open the door. All she could see was the glint of the knife close to her." The knifeman used his weapon to prise open the till drawer and Broad lent over the counter and also took some of the cash, the court heard.