Police marksman shot armed robber

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An armed robber was fatally shot by police after he blasted at them with a sawn-off shot gun during a building society raid.

Robert Haines, 41, had held the gun to a Securicor guard's head and grabbed £105,000 before he was killed, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

Three men were charged over the raid on the Nationwide in New Romney last year. Two admitted involvement.

David Jenkins, 61, of Kingsnorth, denies robbery and having a firearm.

Prosecuting, Ian Acheson said Haines was making his way to the getaway car when officers from the Metropolitan Police Firearms Unit, who were lying in wait, began their operation.

'Stop! Armed police'

"They were on the scene and shouted 'Stop! Armed police!' in the direction of the man with the gun," he said.

"He turned with his gun... in a way as to make them think he was going to fire and he did fire."

The barrister told the court Haines took a "fatal decision" to fire his sawn-off shotgun.

Two shots were fired at the suspect, but he did not respond, and the marksman, called Echo 19, wondered if he had missed or if he was wearing body armour, jurors heard.

But Echo 19 then fired for a third time, and Haines, who was "clearly the lead armed robber", fell to the ground, the court was told.

Similar robberies

Haines died later from wounds to the chest, Mr Acheson said.

Two other men, Dean Jenkins and Ben Grehan, admitted being involved in last October's robbery at an earlier hearing. The jury heard they had also admitted other similar armed robberies.

Mr Acheson said David Jenkins, of Pantheon Gardens - father of Dean Jenkins - was there before the incident "in a car that arrived at about the same time as the car driven by his son".

The case continues.