Jail for bookie raider
A prolific armed robber who held up seven bookies and told one of his terrified victims: ‘I’ll be back’ has been was jailed for more than 17 years.
Marcus Moore, 33, delivered Arnold Schwarzenegger’s famous line from the sci-fi classic The Terminator during his crime spree across London in February this year.
Moore put staff off guard by asking them what the football results were before producing a pistol wrapped in yellow cloth while slipping a bank note under the counter demanding money.
He disguised himself in a hood and hat he stole from a former housemate before grabbing £3,775 from cashiers, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.
Sporting a pony-tail, Moore sat in the dock flanked by two security staff wearing a grey Ralph Lauren shirt and sat expressionless as Judge Grace Amakye said: ‘From the beginning of February 2017 for a two-week period you embarked upon a campaign of robberies.
‘Your offences were against six bookmakers and one against a post office.
‘You used an imitation firearm.
‘Your actions terrified employees who believed your gun was real and as a consequence which has been outlined by impact statements you have caused significant psychological harm which has had as a life changing effect.
‘Many have been unable to continue their employment.
‘It is, however, my view that the series of incidents demonstrate that you are a dangerous individual and the public must be protected from you.’
Moore thanked the judge before he was taken to the cells to start his 17 year and four month stretch.
Prosecutor Helen Lewis said Moore’s raids were well planned, adding: ‘He is a recidivist and targeted lone female cashiers – this is a modus operandi that he knows works for him.
‘When he entered the stores, he attempted to conceal his identity.
‘He often wore a hat and on some occassions a hoodie and, he carried a pistol of some sort – the Crown cannot say if it was a real gun.
‘There was no physical harm but the incidents have had a serious detrimental psychological and emotional effect on more than one victim.
‘All of the victims were terrified and it has significantly impacted the way they go about their daily life.’
During one of the robberies at Ladbrokes in Katherine Road, East Ham, the robber strolled in pretending to be a regular customer.
Moore then slipped a note under the counter and pointed a gun with a two-inch barrel at the cashier, the court heard.
‘He said, “don’t move big man”‘, the prosecutor added.
‘The cashier passed £60 from the till to the other cashier next to him and she handed the money to Mr Moore.
‘The alarm had gone off and Mr Moore said “don’t worry – I’ll be back.”.
Moore also swiped £2,775 from a helpless cashier during another armed raid on 13 February.
The bandit approached the counter at 8.30pm and again asked about the football results.
After putting his hands in his pockets, he said: ‘look darling, I’m not going to hurt you – money from the till’, the court heard.
Moore then warned other cashiers: ‘don’t move or I’ll shoot you’ and ‘do this for me – fill the bag for me’.
Moore was jailed for eight years in 2010 for raiding seven Ladbrokes betting shops, including a branch in Ilford, east London.
At the time, detective constable Kwan Hau described him as a ‘ruthless individual’ after he pistol-whipped one bookie so hard he required hospital treatment.
Moore, of no fixed address, admitted four counts of robbery, three of attempted robbery, seven of possession of an imitation firearm and one count of theft.
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