An armed robber was forced to flee a small corner store after brave shopkeepers laughed him out the premises.
Finlay Crawshaw burst into the newsagents brandishing a large kitchen knife in front of the two workers – and attempted to rob them of their takings.
But instead of handing over the cash the two employees began laughing at the thug and told him there was no money in the till.
The bungling 21-year-old was then forced to run empty-handed from the News Plus convenience store in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh.
CCTV footage from the shop captured the shocking moment Crawshaw burst into the store and waved the blade in the face of the employees at around 10.30pm on November 27 last year.
He is heard shouting: ‘Hey listen, down, down, down bro, down bro – you laughing at me?’
The shop worker looks unfazed and tells him: ‘We’ve got no money man.’
Crawshaw then asks ‘you’ve got no money?’ before he retreats out of the shop as the employees continue laughing at him.
Finlay Crawshaw, 21, burst into News Plus convenience store, Edinburgh, brandishing a large kitchen knife towards the two workers and attempted to rob them of their takings
But instead of handing over the cash the two employees began laughing at the cowardly thug and told him there was no money in the till, forcing the thief to run empty-handed
The thug then made his way to a nearby takeaway around 15 minutes later where he brandished the red-handled knife at two employees and robbed them of an unknown sum of cash.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court was also told Crawshaw, originally from Bolton, Lancashire, had carried out a similar robbery at the Slateford Express store on November 9 last year.
On that occasion he entered the shop and demanded cash and cigarettes from the counter assistant before running from the area with the stolen items.
Crawshaw appeared from custody at the capital’s sheriff court on May 28 this year – his 21st birthday – and pleaded guilty to the three assault and robbery charges.
He was remanded in custody and was brought back to the court for sentencing on June 16 where he was jailed for a total of three years.
Sheriff Kenneth Campbell KC also imposed a 12-month supervised release order whereby Crawshaw will be monitored by the authorities on his release.
Previously fiscal depute Corey Laouadi told the court Crawshaw carried out the first armed robbery at the Slateford Express store around 6.05am on November 9 last year.
He entered the shop with his face covered and waving the knife and shouted ‘give me all the money’ before reaching over the counter and taking cash and cigarettes.
The assistant managed to press the panic alarm and Crawshaw fled the area.
The fiscal said the second and third robberies took place 18 days later between 10.30pm and 10.45pm on the evening of November 27.
He was laughed out of the first shop by the two hero employees before he made his way along Gorgie Road and he entered the Chippy Junction and again brandished the large knife.
Mr Laouadi said the two staff members were forced to step back from him and he had shouted ‘open the till’ at them.
Crawshaw then grabbed a handful of notes from the cash register and was last seen running towards the city’s Gorgie Mill Road.
The court was told firearms officers were deployed to the scene in a bid to track the robber down but he wasn’t located and arrested until several days later.
Following these incidents, police received intelligence and raided two properties in the capital where they discovered and seized the large kitchen knife used in the attacks.
