Jailed: Disabled armed robber who held up two shops before getting caught trying to escape on his zimmer frame

A disabled armed robber who held up two shops was caught as he made his escape on a zimmer frame, a court heard.

Kevin Staples, 59, was detained by a security guard as he slowly shuffled away from one of the stores he held up.

He had hobbled up to the counter at the gift shop Past Times, produced a 12-inch bread knife and demanded the cashier empty the till.

Staples, who suffers from severe arthritis, back problems and needs a hip replacement, then tried to lunge towards the till.

But when the shop assistant shouted at him he carefully put the weapon in a bag hanging on his zimmer frame before hobbling out.

The slow-moving robber was caught by bemused security guards before he could limp out of the shopping centre in Crawley, West Sussex.

Two days previously, he had help up a Bottoms Up off-licence in Bournemouth, Dorset, by waving a walking stick in the air.

He told staff: "Give me all the money from the safe or I'm going to batter you."

When an assistant said he did not have access to the safe or till, Staples mumbled 'give me some fags then' before hobbling out of the shop with the stick.

The court heard Staples struck at Past Times in the County Mall shopping centre in Crawley on December 4 last year.

Neil Carter, manager of the centre, said: "He went into the store on a zimmer frame and threatened them with a knife. When they told him to leave he walked out on his frame.

"We have a shop alert system in the event of an emergency and the staff pressed the button and security officers responded.

"He hadn't got very far when they arrived and detained him. It was a very bizarre and strange incident.

"You wouldn't expect to be robbed by someone on a zimmer frame."

As he was being detained he hit out at one of the guards.

Staples pleaded guilty to robbery, attempted robbery and assault by beating. He claimed that voices in his head had told him to steal money for the stores.

Bournemouth Crown Court was told Staples has a previous conviction for robbery in which an imitation firearm was used in 1996.

He was jailed indefinitely by judge Christopher Harvey Clark who told him: "In my view you are a dangerous man."

He told Staples he could not be considered for parole for at least four years.