Gravesend robber sentenced after he was caught due to fare evasion

Mullan used a walking stick inside a carrier bag to pretend he had a shotgun

Metropolitan Police Brett Mullan — Mullan used a walking stick inside a carrier bag to pretend he had a shotgun

A man who carried out a string of robberies at bookmakers across London has been jailed for 10 years after he was caught dodging his train fare.

Detectives used CCTV footage to identify Brett Mullan, 50, from Wellington Street, Gravesend.

Mullan had used a collapsible walking stick in a carrier bag to make cashiers believe he had a shotgun.

He pleaded guilty to five counts of robbery and five counts of possession of an imitation firearm.

At Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday he was sentenced to 10 years for the robberies and six years for the firearms offences, with the sentences to run concurrently.

Flying Squad detectives linked a series of armed robberies at bookmakers in Lee, Norwood, Sutton and Crayford between 4 April and 24 April.

They believed the robber was using the rail network to travel to and from his targets, so examined CCTV footage.

Brett Mullan was identified as the robber after being caught for fare evasion

They discovered a ticket inspector had stopped Mullan for fare dodging as he travelled to commit the second robbery, and he had given the inspector his real name and address.

Mullan was arrested on 25 April as he left his home in Gravesend, a search of which found the collapsible walking stick he had been using to claim he was armed with a shotgun.

A total of £2,780 was stolen during the five robberies.

Brett Mullan was caught on CCTV robbing a bookmaker in Lee

Det Con Carl Stallabras said: "Mullan terrified members of the public and staff when he demanded cash and made threats of serious violence. Those people feared for their lives.

"A simple mistake on his way to the second offence was all we needed to track him down, and from there the wealth of evidence we obtained left him no choice but to plead guilty."