WILLIAMS:CONVICTED RAIDED A DOZEN BOOKIES WHILE ON JAIL DAY RELEASE
A convict raided a dozen bookies at gunpoint while on day release from an open prison, the Old Bailey heard.
Joseph Williams robbed the same betting shop four times in as many months to get his hands on cash to feed his gambling addiction, jurors heard.
The 52-year-old allegedly went on the crime spree after being allowed out from HMP Blantyre House, in Goudhurst, Kent, to work as an £18,000-a-year lorry driver for Croydon-based firm J&M Insulation.
Williams, who was also let out at weekends for ‘resettlement leave’ in order to kept him prepare for life outside prison, has since been moved to nearby medium-security HMP Elmley.
The court heard he frequently drained his bank account within days of receiving his monthly pay, with records showing huge cash withdrawals and card spending in bookies’.
Kate Lumsdon, prosecuting, told jurors that the robberies were linked ‘in a number of respects’.
She said: ‘Each was committed by a tall, black man – and an older man.
‘He was acting alone, he wore a black hooded coat or jumper with a scarft across his face, or sometimes a balaclava.
‘He carried a plastic bag which appeared to have something in it, and the way he held it was as if it was a gun.
‘This gun was used to threaten staff in order to get them to hand over the money.’
The robberies took place between January 28 and June 30 last year in betting shops across south London and Surrey.
During the period, Williams held up the same branch of Paddy Power in Wallington, Surrey, on four separate occasions, making off with a total of £1,820, the court heard.
Following his first visit to the shop at around 8pm on February 24, Williams allegedly covered his face as he told staff had had a gun and threatened to shoot the cashier.
Barely two months later on May 1, shop assistants immediately recognised him as he returned, placing a plastic bag containing a ‘black object’ on the counter and telling terrified staff to ‘give him the f***ing money’.
Williams later turned to raid the same betting shot on May 31 and repeated the heist again the following month on June 26, the court heard.
He is said to have been identified from CCTV footage by his haulier boss and prison staff, with phone and bank records also placing him in the vicinity of the shops at the times they were raided.
Forensic experts also confirmed that DNA from a pair of gloves dropped as the gunman fled from a branch of William Hill in Hackbridge on May 28 belonged to the inmate.
Williams, originally from Bolton, Lancs, denies nine counts of robbery, three attempted robberies, and ten counts of possessing an imitation firearm.
The trial continues.
ends
