A ROBBER who stuffed what appeared to be a trouser leg over his head to disguise his face has been jailed for more than three years.

Trowbridge man Ryan Jones and an - as yet unidentified – accomplice were caught on CCTV storming the Central Convenience Store in Winsley, near Bradford on Avon, on May 24 last year.

Both men wore homemade disguises that appeared from video footage to have been constructed from a pair of grey tracksuit trousers.

They demanded shop assistant Tarran Prior open the till. The ragged-trousered larcenists snatched cigarettes and fled just as a villager pulled up outside the store.

He twigged the men who came running out the shop were up to no good and gave chase in his car.

Jones removed his disguise and his face was caught on the car dash cam. He was identified as Jones by three police officers and picked up several weeks later after his photograph was distributed by detectives to the press.

Jones’ grandmother was among those who saw the appeal. That proved a particular gripe for Jones, who told detectives when he was interviewed: “You’ve put up that I’m a robber when I’m not a robber. My nan doesn’t ever want to see me again.”

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Jones, wearing the light grey top, was caught on CCTV at the store Picture: CPS

He denied committing the robbery, saying he had no idea where the Winsley shop was.

A Swindon Crown Court jury this week took just two hours to return a unanimous guilty verdict on Wednesday.

Jones, 29, of no fixed address, shook his head as the guilty verdict was read out on Wednesday afternoon. When Judge Jason Taylor QC told Jones he would be sentenced the following day, the robber announced: “I’m not coming back tomorrow.” Judge Taylor said: “I will sentence you in your absence.” “Sweet,” replied Jones.

The thief reneged on that promise, returning to Swindon Crown Court from prison on Thursday morning.

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Jones' accomplice enters the store Picture: CPS

He attempted to speak directly to the judge, continuing to deny he had robbed the Winsley store and accusing a Wiltshire police officer of being corrupt.

Jones turned to a number of jurors sat in the public gallery: “I didn’t even do the robbery.” That earned him a rebuke from the judge, who told the thief he would be held in contempt if he addressed the jurors once more.

Colin Meeke, prosecuting, said the robbery had had a significant impact on 25-year-old cashier Tarran Prior. “It’s shocked the village. It’s shocked him and he feared retribution. In the days following the robbery it was on his mind especially when he was at work,” Mr Meek told the court.

Mitigating, Marianna Pasteris acknowledged her client had an unenviable list of previous convictions – 23 for 48 offences. She said he had been abused while a student at boarding school and had suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Jones was first out of the shop Picture: CPS

Jones admitted a charge of handling stolen goods. He was caught with his girlfriend on CCTV at a jewellers’ attempting to sell a gold ring that had been stolen earlier that day. Jones had been released under investigation for that offence when he robbed the Winsley store.

Judge Taylor jailed Jones for three years and one month– including a two-month sentence for handling the stolen ring.

The judge said: “The reality is having observed you during the trial I detect a level of distain and arrogance to those in authority especially the police and the courts. And you’ve not heeded the lessons from court orders that have been imposed on you in the past.”

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Ryan Jones Picture: WILTSHIRE POLICE

He ordered a £500 High Sherriff’s award be paid to the villager who followed the robbers in his car.

A gleeful Jones almost skipped from the dock, asking: “What’s that, three years and one month?” Told that he was correct, Jones said: “Safe.”