A BUMBLING robber who stole £200 and used scratchcards from a Co-op store in Galleywood after threatening an assistant with an imaginary gun - while carrying a steak knife - has been jailed.
Convicted thief Robert Downey, 33, of Wordsworth Court, Chelmsford, waited until the Barnard Road store's till was free on July 13 before ambling up to the counter.
After fetching his stash he escaped by running to the neighbouring Greenfields flats, but was pictured on a shopper's mobile phone.
The 33-year-old, who was high on drugs at the time, was then arrested within an hour, only to spit in a police officer's face four times while in custody.
At Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday (September 12) he was sentenced to five years and six months in prison after pleading guilty to robbery, possession of an imitation firearm, possession of a bladed article in a public place and assaulting a police constable in the execution of his duty.
Downey, cloaked in a hoody and baseball cap, was also caught on CCTV idling into the store at around 6.50pm. He is then seen motioning to a "firearm" in his pocket at the counter.
In fact this was merely his hand and fingers fashioned into the shape of a gun.
After making his bizarre escape a store assistant called for the supervisor, who lives locally, to come into the shop and identify him from video footage.
Downey was also convicted in June for stealing four bottles of perfume totalling nearly £150 worth from Debenhams in Chelmsford.
Chelmsford Star Co-operative's head of food Stuart Hammond said: "To threaten anyone is a very serious offence and the fact that Robert Downey has been caught and sent to prison for five years is a warning that crime doesn't pay."
Mr Hammond also commended his colleagues for acting calmly during the incident.
An Essex Police spokesman said: "For some reason he took some used lottery tickets, those that have been handed in.
"Whether or not he thought they were live or scrap tickets we don't really know."
