In a possible bid for the world’s stupidest criminal title a hapless robber went back to basics when he tried to hold up his local betting shop with a rock.
Liam Darby decided to ditch new fangled weaponary such as guns and instead opted for a large piece of stone to threaten staff at the Ladbrokes outlet.
But the 20-year-old’s threats were met with laughter when staff immediately recognised him as one of their regulars.
And even when assistant Wayne Newman realised Darby was serious and handed over £1,600 - the drunken robber managed to drop most of the money on the way out.
Darby’s own barrister Barry McElduff described his actions as ‘idiotic’, according to The Portsmouth News.
He said: “One can scarcely think of a robbery of a shop that was more likely to come undone than Mr Darby’s behaviour in his local Ladbrokes – a place that he regularly goes in to and a place that when he approached the counter the staff thought he was joking to begin with because they know him so well.”
Mr McElduff added: “Having been given the money by the employee Mr Darby is so drunk he is dropping the money as he leaves the store.”
CCTV footage shows Darby entering the Ladbrokes shop on Forton Road in Gosport, Hampshire, wearing a hooded jacket pulled down over his eyes.
But any attempts to disguise his identity proved futile with his distinctive shaved eyebrows and a tattoo on his neck identifying him straight away.
According to The Portsmouth News, a baffled shop assistant told Darby: “What are you doing, you come in here all the time - you’re on CCTV.”
Minutes before the raid bungling Darby had attempted another failed robbery at a nearby Co-op.
Becoming increasingly desperate he then tried to rob a customer as he was leaving the store, but his victim refused his demands and told him to “just walk away”.
Darby, of Gosport, Hampshire, was arrested four days later on March 12.
The father-of-one, who has previous convictions for theft and assault, pleaded guilty to robbery and attempted robbery at Portsmouth Crown Court.
The Portsmouth News said his lawyer Mr McElduff told the court: “They were drunken, idiotic, spur-of-the-moment offences for which Mr Darby hangs his head in shame.”
Darby was sentenced on June 15 to two and a half years at a young offenders’ institute.
