Bookies raider who stole £300 for drugs told woman 'move or I'll smack you'
A prolific offender told a female bookmaker's employee 'just move or I'll smack you,' after being confronted while stealing £320 from a till to buy drugs.
Craig Butcher, aged 33, of no fixed address, stole the cash from a branch of Ladbrokes in Duchess Parade, West Bromwich, while staff were preoccupied calling for an ambulance for one of his friends.
He then spent the money on crack cocaine, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard on Monday.
Mr Howard Searle, prosecuting, said the incident happened on November 18 when the female staff member noticed a group of men drinking outside the shop at 6.40pm.
One of the men in the group then suggested to the staff in the Ladbrokes branch that he needed an ambulance, but the defendant, who pleaded guilty to theft, decided the man did not need medical help after all and went into the betting shop to tell the team.
Mr Searle said while Butcher was inside he 'took the opportunity' to steal £20 notes from a cash till that had been left unlocked and unsupervised, but his crime was witnessed by the employee who saw him walking towards the rest of the group with the £20 notes.
"She told him to stop and he said 'just move or I'll smack you.' "He walked out of the store and out of the area," Mr Searle added.
Police were able to identify the defendant, who has 68 previous convictions, from CCTV and arrested him on November 19.
He admitted he had stolen the money during police interviews and admitted theft when he appeared in court.
His previous offences included thefts, robbery and attempted robbery and possession of a bladed weapon.
Miss Blondel Thompson, mitigating, suggested Butcher receive a fine or community order, adding that he had already spent seven weeks in prison following his arrest.
She said even though he had extensive previous convictions, he should be convicted on the basis of his latest crime.
She added: "He is now 33 years old and has no desire to waste his life coming before the courts and spending the majority of them in custody."
Judge Helen Hughes said: "Counsel properly recognises that your record is appalling, but it is not on the back of that that we have to sentence you.
"I am satisfied that drink was involved and that the crime was on the spur of the moment.
"You got yourself into the shop and saw the open till and the temptation proved too much for you."
She sentenced Butcher to 14 weeks in prison, but he has already served seven, meaning he was freed.
