Nottingham: Man jailed over £10k armed robberies at petrol stations

Thomas Wade admitted to five offences in court

A man has been jailed for robbing a Nottingham petrol station at knifepoint twice in two weeks.

Masked Thomas Wade threatened staff at the Shell Service Station in Carlton Road, and took more than £10,000 of cigarettes and tobacco in December.

Police identified the 34-year-old using fingerprints he left on a plastic bag at the scene of the crime.

He was sentenced to seven years and 11 months in prison when he appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday.

Nottinghamshire Police said Wade wielded a "large knife" during the armed robberies, and also took about £500 in cash.

CCTV footage showed him walking back to his home in Gordon Road, Thorneywood, after the first robbery.

Nottinghamshire Police released these images in January as part of the investigation into the December robberies

Two knives "closely matching those used" were found at his home and police said his "distinctive facial features" also matched a partial CCTV image recorded at the scene.

Wade also left a fingerprint at the scene of a burglary in Lucknow Drive, Mapperley Park, in the early hours of 20 May 2023, police said.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery, two counts of possessing a knife in a public place, and burglary.

Det Ch Insp Ruby Burrow said: "Wade subjected two members of staff to extremely frightening ordeals.

"I can only imagine how they felt as a masked man walked into their place of work carrying a potentially deadly weapon.

"Both gave very good accounts of what happened to officers but ultimately Wade identified himself by leaving his fingerprints at the scene - something he also did at the scene of the burglary."