Man accused of robbing same bank twice (From Swindon Advertiser)

Man accused of robbing same bank twice

6:30pm Monday 25th June 2012 in News By Matthew Edwards

A MAN has appeared in court charged with robbing the same bank twice in seven months.

Jason Jarvis is accused of robbing the Gorse Hill branch of Lloyds TSB on Thursday, June 23, last year.

The 39-year-old is also accused of carrying out a similar raid at the Cricklade Road branch on Thursday, December 9, in 2010.

He denies two counts of robbery and one of having an imitation firearm.

Jarvis, who appeared at Swindon Crown Court yesterday in a striped t-shirt and jeans, is alleged to have got away with £3,070 in the first raid, which took place just before Christmas, and then £4,064 during the more recent robbery.

In the first incident it is alleged that Jarvis entered the bank at about 10am, wearing a black jacket with a hood up over his head.

The jury saw on CCTV that the robber walked up to a counter in the bank and passed a note to the cashier, Karen Spalding.

The note read: “I’ve got a gun and will kill if alarm is pressed. Pass big bills from both tills now.”

Mrs Spalding went to one of the other cashiers who was on, Lynda Fisher, who told her to comply with the request.

The cashier handed over the money which was put into a bag and the robber ran out of the door and away up Cricklade Road.

Giving evidence yesterday, Mrs Spalding, who has worked for Lloyds TSB for 12 years, said: “I had a note placed on the counter and at first I thought it was a joke.

“I picked up it up and took the note to another cashier, Lynda Fisher, and he followed me to the cashier.

“She just told me ‘do it, do it now’ and he followed me back and said ‘do it’.

“I did look up at the gentleman but he was all covered up. I felt at the time like a life time but I know it was a matter of seconds. I just panicked.”

Two other customers were in the bank at the same time and one of them, Bartalomeo Turco, a restaurant manager, told the court what he saw. He identified Jarvis in an identity line-up in August last year and said he was 90 per cent sure it was the same person he had seen in the bank.

Details of the second robbery, where it is alleged that Jarvis targeted another branch of the same bank, were also shown to the jury.

CCTV footage recorded a man entering the bank in a large cream jacket.

It is alleged that on this occasion he went up to the cashier brandishing a gun in a threatening manner and demanded big notes be placed into a plastic bag before leaving the bank.

The trial continues.