British schoolboy admits robbing bank with fake gun
28 Sep naharnet.com
A British schoolboy described as a "model pupil" admitted robbing a
bank while carrying a fake gun. The 15-year-old, who cannot be named for
legal reasons, held up a branch of Barclays bank in Liverpool, northwest
England, on Friday and made off with 2,000 pounds ($3,200), the city's
youth court heard. His mother turned him over to the police after
finding a stack of cash and the fake weapon in his bedroom.
She wept at the back of the courtroom as her son, wearing a black
suit, white shirt and tie, was led into the dock and pleaded guilty.
Judge Ian Lomax said the boy had acted almost as if he was playing a
video game. "This is a very serious matter," the judge told the court.
"It's an armed robbery, but not in the conventional sense most people
would recognize. It's a bizarre, surreal case of a young man almost
acting like a real-life action video game." Prosecutor Debra Chan said
the boy had walked into the bank with a scarf over his face, pulled out
the gun and told cashiers: "Don't do anything stupid. I have just got
out of prison after five years." The cashiers filled the bag with a
"dummy bundle" which is designed to spray dye over the cash when it
leaves the building, Chan said.
"He wanted the money because he was envious of other people who had
material things he wanted," she added.
The court heard that the boy was a "model pupil" at school who was
not known for misbehaving. Defence lawyer Esther Leach said he came from
a "very, very good family" and was doing "fantastically well at school".
The boy pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery and one count of
possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence,
and was granted conditional bail. He will be sentenced at Liverpool
Crown Court on October 15.
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