Robber raided bank using aerosol as fake gun

A drunken bank robber has been jailed after he used a can of air freshener to pretend he had a gun.

John McKay had the aerosol cylinder inside his jacket and pressed it against the cloth as he threatened to shoot two terrified cashiers.

He demanded £5,000 - but ended up with just one genuine £20 note that was placed on top of a stack of waste paper.

McKay was convinced he was dying and carried out the raid on the NatWest branch in Paignton, Devon, so he could have some money to leave to his two children.

Ironically, the raid may have saved his life because he was drinking six litres of cider a day and had an ulcer that was causing serious internal bleeding.

After his arrest he dried out while in custody and has now made a full recovery, Exeter Crown Court was told.

McKay, aged 30, of Sands Road, Paignton, admitted robbery and was jailed for two years and six months by Judge Geoffrey Mercer, QC.

He told him:

”You believed you had a life threatening illness and had drunk an enormous amount of cider. You developed the spontaneous belief you needed to obtain money for your children.

“You carried out this essentially unplanned robbery with little regard to the consequences and then run the police to say you had done it.

“This remains a serious matter because you threatened to shoot a bank employee who understandably feared you had a real gun and was very frightened. This sort of incident causes alarm to the public.”

Miss Janice Eagles, prosecuting, said McKay went into the NatWest bank on the morning of March 19 and approached a cashier who was working in the new-style concourse where there are no glass screens.

He had previously been seen acting suspiciously in a nearby branch of Lloyds where he left after staff told him to join the back of the queue.

McKay approached 22-year-old cashier Alfie Farrell, who had only started in the bank six months earlier, and demanded money. He had the hood of his top up and kept his back to the main CCTV camera.

Miss Eagles said:

"The cashier was not sure if he was joking and said words to that effect to him. McKay said ‘I’ve got a gun, I will kill you’. He edged towards the cashier and said ‘I want five grand’.

"Mr Farrell said he did not have access to large amounts of cash and tried to explain he only had a small amount in a drawer. McKay said he would shoot him and said he had done it before and would do it again.

“He put his hand inside his hooded jacket and pushed out a cylindrical object which Mr Farrell thought might be a firearm. He realised the risk was significant.

“He started jabbing Mr Farrell and one of his female colleagues realised there was something amiss. He tried to indicate to her but McKay told him to say he was okay.

“He kept repeating ‘give me the cash, give me the cash. The female colleague had been serving a customer with three children but came and asked what he wanted and McKay said he would shoot both of them.”

He was eventually given a dummy bundle of £20 notes which should have produced smoke and dye when they were opened but which failed to go off.McKay called police a few hours later but did not give himself up and was arrested the next day. He said he had been considering suicide or trying to force the police to shoot him.

He was found with the one genuine £20 and the bundle of paper from the bundle. He told police the so-called gun was a can of air freshener he had thrown away.

Mr Paul Dentith, defending, said McKay thought he was dying because he had internal bleeding. He drank even more than usual to cope with the stress and was turned away from the hospital because he was drunk.