Seven years in jail for travel agent robber (From Western Telegraph)

Seven years in jail for travel agent robber

5:00pm Sunday 20th January 2013 in County News

A man who claimed to have a bomb when he threatened staff at a Haverfordwest travel agent has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

Lloyd Kieran Jones, of Glynneath, south Wales, used a plastic bag full of wires and hand-written notes threatening to blow himself up in a string of unsophisticated robberies, Cardiff crown court heard on Wednesday (January 9th).

Over two weeks Jones, aged 32, carried out a number of robberies at betting shops and travel agents across eight counties in England and Wales including Thomson’s at Riverside Shopping Centre on September 28th, last year.

The court heard that Jones, a gambling addict and father-of-two, was out on licence from prison for robbery when he carried out the attacks in which he stole a total of £7,000.

Each time premises were targeted when only female staff were present.

Jones used crude disguises including wearing a plaster over one of his eyes and in the Haverfordwest robbery he wore a pair of fake glasses at the end of his nose.

He made off with £2,115 in cash after handing a staff member a shoebox with wiring poking out and saying he would detonate the bomb unless he was handed money.

He escaped in a taxi, after threatening to kill the staff member if she sounded the alarm, but got out before getting to Carmarthen when a warning was issued over the taxi radio.

The judge heard that Jones spent a lot of the cash stolen on drink, drugs, taxis and hotels. His defence solicitor said Jones was remorseful and came clean with police when he was arrested.