Bad handwriting thwarted a bank robbery in Sussex because staff couldn’t decipher the robber’s threatening note.
Retiree Alan Slattery, 67, fled empty-handed from a Nationwide Building Society branch in Eastbourne in March after employees struggled to read his message demanding they hand over cash, Sussex Police revealed on Thursday.
Police shared a picture of the note on Twitter.
If you look hard enough, you can read: “Your screen won’t stop what I’ve got, just hand over the 10s and the 20s. Think about the other customers.”
Later that month, Slattery made off with £2,400 from a Nationwide bank branch in his home town St. Leonards. He tried another robbery at a NatWest branch in Hastings in April, but left with no money.
Police later identified Slattery from bank security footage and arrested him near his home.
He pleaded guilty to one count of robbery and two counts of an attempted robbery in July. A judge sentenced him to six years.