Court told robber ‘apologised’ as he threatened Templepatrick Winemart staff with broken bottle

Ballymena Magistrates Court also heard on Monday (May 29) that 38-year-old Mark Clifton, who was only freed from prison five days before the incident at the Twelfth Milestone in Templepatrick, used a taxi as his getaway but on the way back to Belfast, he told the driver all about the “amateurish” robbery.

Appearing at court by videolink from police custody, Clifton, of no fixed abode, was charged with robbing £400 from the Winemark off licence, possessing a broken bottle as a weapon with intent to commit robbery, aggravated burglary of the same off licence and possessing class A cocaine on 27 May this year.

Giving evidence to the court, a detective constable outlined how Clifton went into the off licence just before 8pm on Saturday evening and after buying a single tin of beer, “he produced a broken glass bottle and told the staff member to empty the till”.

The officer added: “He went to the cash area where the safe was and he was handed £400-£500 and still brandishing the broken bottle, he actually apologised to staff before he left the premises”.

The court heard that when police arrived at the scene, a householder at nearby Castleton Gardens told officers “a man had been hiding in the bushes near their home before he got into a taxi” and when enquiries were conducted with the taxi firm, the driver told police how the man had appeared “from behind bushes” and got into his car.

On the way to Belfast, the passenger changed his clothes, “told the driver he had robbed the off licence” and asked to be taken to the Kennedy Centre so that he could use the coin counter machine to convert the stolen coins into notes.

Clifton was arrested at the Kennedy Centre and when he was searched, police uncovered “four bags of white powder which the defendant said was cocaine”.

During police interviews Clifton said he had taken so much drugs and alcohol he couldn’t remember what had happened but when CCTV foot was put to him, he “readily admitted it was him and that his actions were criminal”.

The detective told the court that with 56 previous convictions, no suitable address and a release from prison just five days before the incident, police were objecting to bail due to fears of witness interference and a risk of Clifton committing further offences.

Defence solicitor Patrick Hunt suggested to the detective the robbery “was probably one of the most amateurish attempts at getting away with a robbery that you would have seen in your entire career” but while he agreed it was amateurish, “it was not comical for the staff involved”.

The solicitor said Clifton was “completely open” with the police when he made his full confessions so “if there was a fast track in this county court area then this case will be going down that line”.

District Judge Peter King said however that Clifton “is not a suitable candidate for bail as there’s a clear risk of reoffending”.

"This is going to the Crown Court and he will be well aware of the implications of a robbery so accordingly, there will be a remand in custody,” said the judge as he adjourned the case to June. 20