A hapless crook glued paper hankies to his face in an attempt to hold up his local bookies where he had been a regular.

Douglas Stewart also stuffed tissues inside his mouth to hide his accent and scrawled his robbery demands on the back of a letter from bosses banning him from the betting shop.

Not surprisingly the 48-year-old’s plot failed when the cashier recognised him instantly.

Previously, bosses had told Stewart in a letter that he was no longer welcome at the betting shop – and he scrawled his robbery demands on the back of it.

He then left the letter – complete with his name and address – on the shop counter when he fled empty-handed, reports the Daily Record.

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Just in case Stewart hadn’t left enough evidence, he took off his disguise outside the shop in full view of a CCTV camera.

And a “closed” note he stuck to the shop door at the start of the raid had his finger- prints all over it.

Stewart raided the Betfred shop in Torquay, Devon, at 8.30am on August 27 last year. He had no shoes and odd socks.

He mumbled something at the cashier which she couldn’t understand because of the tissues in his mouth and his strong Airdrie accent, then gave her two bits of paper.

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One said he had a bomb in his bag and wanted money. It told the cashier to give him the keys and lock herself in the toilet.

The other said ex-soldiers had the shop surrounded.

The cashier said she was calling the police. Stewart left when she set off a panic alarm and was arrested soon after.

Stewart pled guilty to attempted robbery. Exeter Crown Court heard he had 72 previous convictions and moved to Torquay after being jailed for robbery in Scotland.

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Paul Dentith, defending, said his client was a heroin addict and the raid was more of a cry for help than a serious robbery attempt.

But judge Phillip Wassall told Stewart: “You have to consider it from the position of the cashier. She was scared for her life and I can see why she was.

“You pose a continuing risk to the public.”

He jailed Stewart for three years and eight months.

Sourced from mirror.com