A 'STUPID' robber struck at his local shop without a disguise and right under a CCTV camera, a court was told.

Lewis Cliffe, 26, had attacked and injured owner Arulthas Arokkiyanather, before snatching £200 and fleeing from the Healey Shop on Market Street, Whitworth.

Cliffe was a regular customer at the store and the victim knew him and had only just served him.

He later told police: “I used to go in there all the time,” Burnley Crown Court heard.

Cliffe, who has served six years behind bars for mugging a taxi driver at knifepoint, had been arrested, owned up and when asked by an officer if he was sorry about targeting Mr Arokkiyanather, replied: “Of course I am.”

The hearing was told the defendant, who had mixed very strong alcohol with medication before the theft, had smashed into another car after a drinking session months before.

He had left his passenger needing 15 stitches to his forehead and shocked, walked off and then told the police the vehicle had been stolen.

Cliffe had been banned at the time.

On that occasion, he had walked past the scene of the collision and said 'hello' to a police officer who also knew him – and the crash had been caught on CCTV as well.

The defendant, of Market Street, Whitworth, had admitted driving while disqualified and attempting to pervert the course of justice last October 24 and robbery on March 1.

He was also in breach of a 10 week prison term, suspended for 12 months, imposed last June for aggravated vehicle taking and driving while disqualified. He was locked up for a total of 28 months.

Rachel Cooper, for Cliffe, said: “The defendant finds himself at a loss to explain why he did something so incredibly stupid.”