Bank robber tried to hold up bank by holding his hand in shape of a gun

A brave bank worker refused to empty her till for an ‘armed’ robber – after noticing he was using his hand as a fake gun.

Liam Jones, 27, sent staff at the Barclays in Llandudno, North Wales, scurrying for the safe room when he burst in wearing a mask at around lunchtime on February 16 last year.

He then approached one of the counters and slipped cashier Karen Starr a note reading: ‘Give me all your money or I’ll shoot you.’

But after hitting the panic button, Ms Starr quickly regained her nerve when she glanced down at Jones’s pocket where his gun was supposed to be.

Prosecutor Ember Wong told Mold Crown Court steely Ms Starr realised the would-be robber was only ‘holding his hand in a gun-shape’.

She said: ‘He kept his hand in his right pocket as if he was holding a gun, but she knew a gun would not fit into his pocket.

‘He was holding his hand in a gun-shape and his hand was relaxing.’

The prosecutor said Ms Starr ‘did not feel scared’ after spotting Jones’s hand was also shaking and he was clearly ‘not comfortable’ as she tried to stall him until police arrived.

She had told him the till was on a timer and he would have to wait for it to open as she had only just got back from lunch.

The cashier also claimed there was more money ‘downstairs’ and she could go and get it, to which Jones said ‘no’.

Ms Wong said: ‘She became more confident and more determined not to give the defendant any money.’

Jones was then arrested outside by waiting officers after finally losing his own nerve and trying to flee empty-handed.

He later told them he ‘couldn’t really remember’ what had happened in the bank.

Defending, Simon Rogers told the court Jones may have some form of schizophrenia.

Jones, of Llandudno Junction, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery.

Judge Rhys Rowlands said no money was taken and praised the cashier and a manager for their ‘commendable courage’.

Jones was jailed for one year.

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