Robber who boasted on Facebook jailed for four years

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/apr/11/robber-who-boasted-on-facebook-jailed-for-four-years

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A robber who boasted about plans for an armed robbery on Facebook has been jailed for four years.

Andrew Hennells posted a comment on the social networking site reading “Doing. Tesco. Over” at 7.25pm on 13 February.

Fifteen minutes later, Norfolk police were alerted by a member of the public to a man demanding cash at a branch of the store in King’s Lynn.

Sentencing him for armed robbery at Norwich crown court, judge Anthony Bate said Hennells posed a “high risk of serious harm to the public”.

The court heard armed police were deployed after the alarm was raised.

Hennells escaped after stealing a car belonging to a retired couple who had stopped to use a cashpoint, but officers tracked him down in a nearby pub. He was carrying a knife and £410 in stolen cash.

The 31-year-old, of Riverview Way, Gaywood, admitted robbery and carrying a knife at an earlier hearing. Another count of robbery relating to the carjacking was left to lie on file, Norfolk police said.

Sgt Pete Jessop, from King’s Lynn CID, said the Facebook confession made it easier to prove the case.