Bungling Leeds bank robber dropped cash and plastic gun after raid

AN ARMED robber has been jailed for more than five years after a bungled raid on a Leeds bank.
Matthew MasseyMatthew Massey
Matthew Massey

Matthew Massey dropped his fake gun and over a thousand pounds in £20 notes as he made off on foot from a Yorkshire Bank branch, on York Road, Leeds.

The 23-year-old also left his fingerprints behind when he terrified two cashiers and a customer by tapping the barrel of the imitation firearm on the counter.

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Massey ordered the women to hand over notes and said: “Come on, because I don’t want to have to hurt anyone.”

Massey was seen on CCTV loitering outside the bank on the busy main road for half an hour before putting on a balaclava and carrying out the heist but forgot to take a bag with him. He left carrying around £4,000 in cash as well as the plastic gun. The gun and much of the cash fell to the ground outside and were retrieved by members of the public who returned them to the bank.

Richard Smith, said: “The defendant panicked and fled on foot to a nearby housing estate.

The branch manager, who was five-months pregnant at the time, was in a back room and activated an alarm.

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Massey, of Lupton Avenue, Harehills, Leeds, was arrested on February this year, three days after the robbery, The balaclava and a pair of distinctive red shoes he wore during the raid were found at his home.

He pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of an imitation firearm with intent to commit a serious offence.

Stuart Field, mitigating, said Massey had no previous convictions.

He said his client had committed the offence out of desperation as he had crashed a car which belonged to an “unsavoury character” who had made threats to him and his family for immediate payment to repair the damage.

He added that Massey had represented his country at rugby league at amateur level and was unlikely to offend again.

Judge James Spencer, QC, gave Massey a sentence of Five years and three months.