Five years in prison for lamebrained looter

A MAN who attempted to commit an armed robbery at a Huercal de Almeria bank has been sentenced to five years, 10 months and 17 days in prison, after he attempted to gun down an off-duty policeman during his failed escape.

The bungling bandit entered the office of a savings bank located on the Los Pinos de Huercal urbanisation clutching an unlicensed nine millimetre semi-automatic weapon loaded with five cartridges, the court heard.

Once inside, he began to shout “this is a robbery” and forced employees to open the safe, before swiping some €65,000 in cash.

As he sprinted out of the building, he bumped into an off-duty Guardia Civil officer who was on his way to the bank before attending a training day in Benahadux.

The raider is said to have screamed “stay in your car or I’ll kill you,” before hightailing it as the officer gave chase.

The robber fired several shots behind him as he ran, until he came across a parked car with the driver sitting inside.

He pulled open the door and pointed the gun at the occupant, instructing him to get out and allowing him to flee.

It was at this point that the heist unravelled, since the quick-thinking driver had removed the keys from the ignition before running away, and several police patrols were now on the scene having been alerted by the bank’s alarm.