Knifeman robs bookies then tries to hand himself in

A knifeman queued up to rob a bookmakers before handing the cashier a note which read: “This is a robbery, put the money in the bag.”

Martin Haugh, 57, pointed the blade at the young woman at Coral in Tredegar and warned her “I’m not joking” when she initially refused to give him any cash.

The terrified victim gave him £115 before the defendant walked out.

Haugh then tried to give himself up at Tredegar police station twice after ringing the bell but there was no one there.

The defendant still had time to go for breakfast at Molly’s Café and have a drink at the Olympia Wetherspoons pub before he was arrested at the bar by police.

Paul Hewitt, prosecuting, played CCTV footage of the robbery which took place at around 10.45am on the morning of Friday, August 8.

The film shows Haugh queuing up behind a customer before he approached the counter after that man had placed a bet.

The defendant pulled out the note from a plastic bag before handing it to the cashier.

Mr Hewitt said: “She told him, ‘I can’t do that.’ He then pointed the knife towards her and said, ‘I’m not joking.'”

After seeing that she had pushed a panic button, he remarked: “You can call the police.”

The woman said in a victim impact statement: “This has had a profound and lasting effect on me. My heart was racing and I thought he would use the knife if I didn’t give him the money he was asking for.”

The defendant, of no fixed abode, Tredegar pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of a bladed article in public.

He has nine previous convictions for 19 offences which include possession of a weapon, battery and drug driving.

Haugh’s barrister Ross McQuillan-Johnson read out a letter his client had written to the court.

The defendant said he had carried out the robbery so that he would be arrested and taken to prison so that he could get help.

The defendant had been “sofa surfing” and drinking heavily and taking drugs every day for a fortnight in the build up to his offences.

“I saw that the bookies was open and it looked empty,” he wrote. “I tried to be as less menacing as possible.”

Haugh added: “Since I’ve been in prison, I’ve been feeling much better. I’ve been using the gym and taking courses. I feel great not having alcohol and drugs and I hope I can move forward. I’m hoping to move to Cardiff and not be around Tredegar and the drugs. I am very sorry for my actions.”

Judge Celia Hughes told Haugh: “These are really serious offences.”

The defendant was jailed for three years.

He was made the subject of a three-year restraining order and ordered to pay a victim surcharge.