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Leeds robber gave cash to Big Issue sellers
An armed robber targetted 19 shops across Leeds, and gave some of the stolen money to Big Issue sellers.
In an unusual step the robber Martin Kaczmarek directly addressed a judge at Leeds Crown Court, saying: "I am trying to figure out exactly what is wrong. There's something drastically wrong to walk out and commit this amount of offences."
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Described in court as an "intelligent and articulate" man, Kaczmarek had robbed in the past to fund a crack cocaine habit but this latest crime spree was not for drugs.
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Instead he said he gave some money to sellers of the Big Issue – a magazine which help the homeless – because "it made me feel better at that precise time".
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The court heard that between June and September, Kaczmarek admitted three robberies and one attempted robbery on shops in Leeds. He asked for a further 15 similar robberies to be taken into consideration – many of them involved weapons.
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At 5.40pm on June 21, he went into Subway on Boar Lane shouting at staff to open the till.
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Kaczmarek swung a punch at one staff member before marching him towards the till, saying he had a knife. The alarm was raised, prompting Kaczmarek to flee before throwing a chair which hit the staff member.
At 6.50pm, wearing a hood and scarf over his face, he targeted Nisa on Cavendish Street where he forced the women shopkeepers to open the tills and fled with 1,000.
Four days later, he targeted Sainsbury's in Ash Road, Headingley, while armed with a kitchen knife with a four to six inch blade.
He threatened a staff member who opened the till and Kaczmarek fled with 150.
On July 9, he went to Ainsleys bakery on Bond Street where he grabbed up to 300 after threatening staff with a craft knife.
The court heard that Kaczmarek, of Spen Green, Hawksworth, had served two jail terms for robberies in the past – including one of nine years.
Kaczmarek told Judge Christoper Batty: "The reason for committing the crimes is I cannot cope outside. I don't know what to do. I try to get help by speaking to psychiatrists but there's waiting lists and things I cannot do anything about. I tried to speak to my family but I could not do it."
The judge remanded Kaczmarek in custody, and adjourned sentencing until January for psychiatric reports.
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Sunday 05 February 2012
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