Don’t cry! Have the cash back, says robber

Monday 15th June 2009, 2:55PM BST.

The Royal Court building

A MAN who attempted to rob a bookies handed the cash back to the cashier when she started crying.

The employee was then able to keep the would-be robber talking while she waited for the police to arrive after secretly raising the alarm with a panic button.

Kieran O’Neill (30), who had asked for the judge hearing his case at the Royal Court on Friday to ban him from pubs and clubs as part of his sentence, had gone into Ladbroke’s betting shop in La Motte Street on 29 November and asked the lone cashier to give him the money.

But when she handed him £60, he gave it back when she became tearful, and then started chatting to her about his life and hobbies as if nothing had happened.

O’Neill was given 12 months’ probation, 180 hours of community services and was banned from entering pubs and clubs for 12 months.

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