Sentenced: Robber with socks on his hands put his foot in it at crime scene
A bungling shop robber has been caught red handed despite wearing makeshift mask and socks on his hands to stop him being identified.
Knife wielding Jermaine Brown found the lure of the £500 cash in the till too strong to resist, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
The 19-year-old could not touch the money because he had socks covering his hands to prevent tell tale finger prints being left at the scene.
So he took one off while picking up the money - and left it behind as he fled from the premises in Cross Lane, Great Barr with the haul, which also included two boxes of cigarettes, on March 18.
When forensically examined the forgotten sock revealed traces of Brown's DNA. He was arrested soon afterwards, said Mr Kevin Jones, prosecuting.
"He was armed with a four-inch blade kitchen knife, had a hat pulled down over his eyes and a scarf covering most of his face," said Mr Jones.
"He also had socks over his hands when he ordered the shop keeper to open the till but then took off one of the socks which he left behind on the counter."
Mr Gurdeep Garcha, defending, conceded: "It was a clumsy and amateurish attempt to make some money. He was extremely naive and his big mistake was taking off the sock and leaving it behind."
Brown, of no fixed address, admitted robbery and was ordered to be detained at a Young Offenders Institution for two years eight months. Recorder Christopher Goodchild told the defendant, who had also been locked up previously for another robbery: "You were armed with a large knife on this occasion and the shopkeeper was alone on the premises."
