A knife-wielding 53-year-old man from Liverpool who robbed a Cambridgeshire village bookmakers’ and Co-op over the same weekend has been jailed for nine years.
Kenneth Dring threatened staff with the knife, forcing them to hand over cash.
The first robbery happened on Friday April 6 at Coral bookmakers in High Street, Histon.
At 8pm Dring walked in and vaulted over the counter with a knife in his hand.
He waved the knife towards a staff member, demanding that he open the safe before stealing £275 and fleeing the scene on a bike.
Two days later he robbed the Co-op on Station Road, Histon.
First entering the shop at 10pm to ask if there were any jobs he returned an hour later, held a knife to the manager’s back, and fled with £2,000.
Police identified Dring from CCTV from both shops. When arrested, he was found with the jacket and trainers he wore during the robbery.
On Friday (August 17) Dring, of Boode Croft, Liverpool, was jailed at Cambridge Crown Court after pleading guilty to two counts of robbery and two counts of possessing an offensive weapon in public.
DC Lisa Bacon said: “These robberies left several victims fearing for their lives, which has understandably left them shaken.
“This sentence reflects the severity of Dring’s actions and shows the tough stance the criminal justice system takes on knife crime.”
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