Armed robber is unmasked by Express & Star

William Finch struck six times in two months pocketing more than £3,500 cash after threatening to kill terrified staff at two bingo halls, a building society, a bookmakers and a convenience store throughout the Black Country.

The 57-year-old was also seen to flee empty-handed at the wheel of a BMW from an attempted raid on a post office after being outwitted by the husband and wife who run the business.

The mystery robber, who wore either a balaclava or had a scarf pulled across his face while clutching what appeared to be a sawn off shotgun in a bag, was finally unmasked after a CCTV picture of the culprit was published in the Express & Star.

A witness who caught a glimpse of his face through a gap in the scarf thought his skin might have been black.

Readers provided detectives with important information and officers raided the flat in Bilston Lane, Willenhall where Finch lived alone.

A BMW that matched the getaway vehicle used by the robber in the bungled post office raid was in the car park at the foot of the block with a set of latex gloves in the vehicle.

It was registered to Finch. A pot of face paint that could have been used to 'black up' was discovered in the flat along with a fake moustache.

He first targeted the West Bromwich Building society branch in Market Place, Wednesbury where he escaped with around £1,000 on August 9 last year after walking in armed with the imitation gun and passed a note to a woman cashier telling her to fill a bag with at least £5,000. A terrified couple with a young baby in a push chair were also in the shop at the time.

Finch collected around £200 in coins from the One Stop convenience store on Middleway Green, Stowlawn on August 31 after forcing two women members of staff into the storeroom at the point of his fake gun while threatening to shoot them if they did not give him money. They insisted they could not open the safe and filled his bag with so many coins the weight broke a strap.

The masked armed raider struck again just before 9pm on September 17 at Coral bookmakers in Highfields Road, Bradley, threatened staff with what they assumed to be a gun and ran off with £530. He grabbed a further £800 thrown at him by shocked staff at Mecca Bingo Hall on Spring Vale Industrial Park, Bilston after he shouted 'give me money or I will shoot you' on September 23.

Two days later he pounced again but this time he was tricked by the couple in charge of Rough Hay Post Office in Hall Street, Darlaston who both lay on the ground and set off the alarm. The move foiled the robbery and led to Finch being spotted escaping from the scene at the wheel of his BMW that had false plates.

Three days after that he was wearing a balaclava when he demanded money at gun point from staff at Gala Bingo in Park Lane, Walsall and was given a plastic draw with around £2,000 in it.

Soon afterwards the Express & Star published a photo of the masked raider and he was arrested at his home address on October 9. No gun was ever found and it is assumed that the weapon seen in all the raids was a fake.

Finch, who had previous convictions for comparatively minor offences of shoplifting and assault, consistently denied being involved in any of the raids. He pleaded not guilty to all offences but a jury convicted him of five robberies, an attempted robbery and six counts of possessing an imitation firearm after a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court and was jailed for 14 years by Judge Peter Barrie.

The divorced, jobless former pub landlord was in debt and turned to armed robbery in a desperate bid to get cash to fund his poker habit.

All the money he stole was lost at the casinos where he regularly spent three or four nights a week.

Det Con Joanna Harris, the officer in charge of the case, said today: "It was a worrying spate of crime because there was always the fear that it could escalate into real violence.

"All those confronted by Finch believed he had a gun and was prepared to shoot them if they did not give him money.

"They all said his tone was very aggressive. Some were petrified. Publication of the CCTV picture in the Express & Star played a significant part in his capture. I am delighted with the sentence."