A robber who raided a betting shop armed with a rolled-up newspaper was jailed for 30 months yesterday.

A robber who raided a betting shop armed with a rolled-up newspaper was jailed for 30 months yesterday.

Jason Kelly was recognised as a customer of the Ladbrokes chain before carrying out the crime. He passed a betting slip over to a woman employee with the message: "Hand the muny over. Theel be no trouble."

His victim at first thought it was ridiculous and said something like: "Are you being serious?"

But Kelly, 35, told Kirsten Hillen to give him money from the till. He moved the newspaper in his hand slightly and said: "Give me the money or I'll blow your head off."

The woman was terrified and believed he had a gun and started giving him banknotes from the till.

Kelly pocketed £458 before calmly walking from the Ladbrokes premises in Renfield Street, Glasgow, on December 23, 2006.

Police were called and staff told them that they thought they recognised the raider as a regular at pubs in the area.

Ms Hillen agreed to go with police in a bid to spot the robber and while standing in Hope Street she saw him crossing the road.

Kelly was detained and handcuffed and told police: "I've still got the money in my back pocket." He was searched and a bundle of notes was recovered.

Kelly, of Gatehouse Street, Glasgow, said he had wrapped a plastic bottle in the newspaper before the robbery.

He admitted assaulting 31-year-old Ms Hillen and presenting a covered object at her and pretending it was a firearm and robbing her.

Defence counsel Graham Robertson said it was "a particularly ill-thought-out" offence. He added: "He did not make good his escape. He didn't spend the money."

He said Kelly had been drinking but was not intoxicated at the time of the crime.

A judge told Kelly that he accepted he did not use a weapon and that it was not a sophisticated crime.

But Lord Hodge told him at the High Court in Edinburgh: "You did cause the lady in the shop to believe you had a firearm and caused her not inconsiderable distress. People who work in commercial premises are entitled to expect that the law will attempt to protect them from such behaviour."

The judge said he would have jailed Kelly for three years for the offence but for his guilty plea.