A knife-wielding burglar who stole £15 from a Cambridge launderette has been jailed for three years.

Joel Reed used a crowbar and screwdriver to smash his way into a rear office within Monarch Coin Laundry on Mill Road on 24 March.

He ransacked the room looking for cash and made off with just £15 but as he was leaving the shop, two members of the public entered, and he pointed a knife at them.

The pair ran out of the store, as another member of the public arrived, and hid around the corner to call police. They then watched Reed make off on a bike.

Ely Standard: Knife-wielding burglar Joel Reed has been jailed for three years after he stole £15 from Monarch Coin Laundry on Mill Road in Cambridge.Knife-wielding burglar Joel Reed has been jailed for three years after he stole £15 from Monarch Coin Laundry on Mill Road in Cambridge. (Image: Cambridgeshire Constabulary)

Ely Standard: Burglar Joel Reed pointed this knife at two members of the public.Burglar Joel Reed pointed this knife at two members of the public. (Image: Cambridgeshire Constabulary)

Reed was arrested at his home in Cromwell Road, Cambridge after being identified on CCTV. Shoes that he was wearing upon his arrest also matched footprints at the scene.

At Peterborough Crown Court, Reed, 30, was sentenced to three years in prison after previously pleading guilty to aggravated burglary and possession of a blade in a public place.

Detective Constable Timothy Taylor, who investigated, said: “Reed went to the laundry armed with a knife and used it to point it at the people who came inside."

Report knife crime via www.cambs.police.uk/report