An armed robber who stole £14,000 in cash from a West Midlands branch of Wickes has been jailed for eight years.
In a wry reference to the retailer's slogan, 'Wickes, it's got our name on it', the prosecutor in the case against 26-year-old Usman Ali at Birmingham Crown Court told the jury: "The robbery at Wickes has his name on it".

After threatening a security driver with a hammer outside the Birmingham branch of Wickes last July Ali escaped with a cash box containing £14,000.

The following day he was seen trying to dispose of stained notes in gaming machines at a Ladbrokes outlet and he was arrested.

Commenting on the case, West Midlands Police Detective Constable Andrew Mitcham said: "Ali was at the bookies with the sole purpose of getting rid of the dye-stained notes and taking his winnings receipt to the counter to get clean notes. It was effectively quick-fire money laundering.

"The victim gave us a distinctive description and said his attacker looked like Cat from Red Dwarf − and in court prosecutors presented an image of the character to the jury to illustrate the comparison."

Ali was jailed for eight years after being found guilty of conspiracy to rob.

DC Mitcham went on: "Ali has rightly been handed a long prison term. Although he didn't use the hammer in anger, he threatened violence against the security driver and left him fearing the threats would be carried out."