A robber hid behind a car before stealing £250 off a man at a cashpoint just after midnight. John Kelly, 38, robbed his victim, who had been walking his dog before making a cash withdrawal, outside the Nisa shop in Bury Road, Breightmet on September 5 last year. Bolton Crown Court heard how his victim had been withdrawing money from benefits payments just after midnight, which he needed to help see him through the next few weeks.
Prosecutor Alison Mather said: “He went up to the cash machine in order to withdraw £250 at the Nisa shop located on Bury Road.” But Ms Mather told the court that Kelly had been “hiding behind a car” and came out to take the money. The case was heard at Bolton Crown Court (Image: Anthony Moss) The victim was forced to give Kelly the money who then threatened to “break his neck".
Ms Mather said that the whole ordeal had affected the victim’s mental health and left him fearful about his surroundings. But just weeks earlier Kelly had been involved in another unrelated crime when he assaulted a different man who he had had a personal dispute with at a pub. On August 19 the man had been reading a newspaper at the bar when Kelly came in a “shouted at him to go outside".
The dispute between them spiralled and Kelly hit the man to the left hand side of his face, badly injuring him. Brought before the courts Kelly, who has 21 previous convictions for 39 offences, pleaded guilty to robbery and a section 20 assault. Charlotte Rimmer, defending, .
