Masked man who tried to hold up post office foiled after employee refused to fill bag with money

Kieran David Hodson, 24, tried to rob a post office - but he left empty handed after staff refused to hand over money and told him to go away.

This afternoon he has been jailed for holding up the Filey Road branch in Scarborough while he was masked and brandishing a hammer.

The man hit the security screens with the hammer then threw a bag at a member of staff and demanded they filled it with cash during the incident in March, police said.

However, he fled empty handed after the employee refused to do it.

Police were called the shop after the panic alarm was activated and detectives at Scarborough CID launched an investigation.

Hodson, of Scarborough, was arrested following a public appeal for information.

He made no comment in police interviews but digital evidence linked him to the crime, police said.

He pleaded guilty to attempted robbery when the case reached court and was jailed for two years at York Crown Court today.

North Yorkshire Police said: "His prison sentence comes just a few months after he committed his crime and takes another offender off North Yorkshire's streets."