Bungling robber caught minutes after stealing £25,000 from bank across the road from his house
Jailed: Christopher Walker stole £25,000 from a security guard and then ran into his house across the road
A 'stupid' robber was caught within minutes of stealing £25,000 from a bank when he fled to his own house across the road.
Christopher Walker is today starting a jail sentence after he attacked a security guard with a stick and took the money in broad daylight.
Witnesses watched as he then sprinted into his home across the road from the Lloyds TSB bank in Birmingham's Lea Village.
Walker, 19, was jailed for two-and-a-half years at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday after admitting robbery on October 22.
The hearing was told it was an 'incompetent spur of the moment robbery'.
Judge Sylvia De Bertodano ruled: 'What makes this so serious is the significant amount of money involved, the use of a disguise and the use of a weapon to hit a security guard who is entitled to go about his work without fear of attack.'
But she added: 'I accept that you are sorry and that it was not planned. Temptation overcame you.'
Walker had just been made redundant from his job as a council grass cutter and was short of cash, the court was told.
Christopher Lester, prosecuting, said Walker had seen the van making its delivery at around 2pm and decided to cover his face with a T-shirt, before picking up a stick, which he used to strike the back of the guards' knee from behind.
Police recovered all of the cash from the loft space of Walker's next-door neighbour - a house that he had a key for.
Inept: Birmingham Crown Court was told it was an 'incompetent spur of the moment robbery'
Mr Lester said: 'A taxi driver and a bank customer witnessed the attack on the driver.
'The offender pulled out a two-foot wooden stick from his right sleeve and struck the leg of the driver from behind.
'The stick snapped, the cash box was snatched and the offender was witnessed running into a house further down the road.
'When officers arrived Mr Walker came out of his home and said "Don't put my neighbour's door in, I will tell you where the cash box is."
'He took officers into the house, which he had a key for, and directed them to the cash box in the loft space.
'He also told officers which trainers he had been wearing and that he had used a T-shirt to cover his face, not a balaclava.'
Raglan Ashton, defending, said: 'Although serious, this robbery was somewhat incompetent. It was a spur of the moment decision and was always going to be detected by police within a matter of minutes.
'He is appalled by his actions and he has shown genuine remorse. He held his hands up at the very outset. He admits that he has been stupid and he is sorry.
'He did not come armed with a weapon, he picked up a stick. He was not working and he simply had no money.'
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