Robber jailed after holding up shop with toilet roll

‘This must have been a terrifying experience for the teenage victim,’ say police

Paul McDonald was chased down by the cashier he had threatened (Nottinghamshire Police / SWNS)

A robber has been jailed after he tried to hold up a shop armed with a cardboard toilet roll tube.

Paul McDonald who was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court this week, stormed the shop and demanded money while holding what looked like a gun under his jumper.

The frightened teenage cashier, believing that McDonald was gripping a firearm, immediately handed over a small amount of cash to him.

McDonald then fled the shop, in Wollaton Steet, Nottingham city centre, but the same cashier then gave chase and tackled him to the ground.

It was only then that McDonald’s supposed weapon was revealed.

McDonald dropped the cash and ran away again but police caught him a few minutes later.

The 48-year-old, from Derby, admitted robbery and having an imitation firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence, following the hold-up on 14 April. He was jailed for three years.

Detective Constable Rob Marsden, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “McDonald’s decision that day to storm into the store and threaten someone with what they believed was a gun was completely unacceptable and reckless in the extreme.

“At the time of the robbery, the shop worker had no way of knowing for sure that the object being pointed at him was anything other than a real firearm.

“This must have been a terrifying experience for the teenage victim, who will have believed they were in danger of being seriously hurt throughout the ordeal.

“While McDonald wasn’t carrying a weapon during this incident, this was still an incredibly serious offence, so I’m pleased to see this has been reflected in the length of the sentence handed out to him.”

SWNS