Banana-toting robber jailed over Bradford post office heist
A masked robber who held up a post office with a banana wrapped in a plastic bag has been jailed for three years and four months.Ashley Asquith, 42, brandished the bendy fruit and shouted at staff to empty the till during the raid in Allerton Road, Bradford, on 6 February.Bradford Crown Court heard Asquith, of Chelwood Drive, Bradford, left with more than £6,000, which is yet to be recovered.Passing sentence Judge Jonathan Gibson KC said he had concealed the banana in such a way "to make it look realistic".
The court heard the member of staff on duty at the time had been left "too scared to return to the shop" after the incident. The judge said: "They at the time thought they were the victims of an armed robbery and indeed could have been shot."CCTV footage played in court showed Asquith walk into the post office before shouting at the victim "empty the till".Prosecutors had initially suggested Asquith had been carrying an imitation firearm or something designed to resemble one.However, after Asquith told the court it was a banana the prosecution said if CCTV footage of the incident did not rule out the possibility, they would accept the defendant's explanation.Fuad Arshad, mitigating, said Asquith's behaviour could be explained by his diagnosis of emphysema, a lung condition, which he said had prevented him working as a painter and decorator.He added that Asquith had been abusing alcohol and Class A drugs before the robbery. Asquith pleaded guilty to robbery and possessing an imitation firearm at a previous hearing.
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