Bungling Dunfermline pillow case disguise bank robber jailed

A bank robber who was forced to reveal his identity when he failed to cut eyeholes in his makeshift mask has been jailed for four-and- a-half years.

Matthew Davies donned a pillow case during the raid on a Bank of Scotland in Dunfermline, Fife, but soon discovered he could not see properly.

The 47-year-old, who threatened staff with a meat cleaver, escaped with nearly £2,000 on 23 September 2019.

Davies, of Dunfermline, pleaded guilty to a charge of assault and robbery.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Davies had pulled the meat cleaver from the pillow slip, then used the bedding to cover his face - but quickly removed it.

Prosecutor Stewart Ronnie earlier told the court: "This was due to a failure to create eye holes."

Defence counsel Lorraine Glancy said: "When he was in the bank in order to be able to see the person he was trying to rob he was required to expose his face not only to that person but to the CCTV cameras operational in the bank."

Miss Glancy added that his actions were out of character and the robbery was "one that, when looked at objectively, was unlikely ever to go successfully".

Davies robbed an employee of the bank in Bothwell Street of £1,980 after brandishing the weapon and demanding cash.

A witness who followed Davies as he made his escape, observed him walking slowly, at one point stopping to pat a dog, before returning to the street where he lived.

Police found cash and a pillowcase like the one used in the raid along with a stun gun at his Dunfermline home.

Lord Turnbull, told Davies that he would have faced a six-year prison sentence for the robbery but for his guilty plea.