Schoolboy bank robber admits stealing £2,500 before his dad called the police

The teenager got away with more than £2,500 from TSB and Barclays. He targeted the same cashier on two occasions, leaving her petrified.

His crime spree was only halted when his father spotted him on a police appeal on Facebook.

The three robberies were carried out in the space of just two weeks as the boy sought to feed his heroin habit.

A district judge at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court said he believed he would have continued to target banks had his father not called the police.

The boy, from Tividale, who cannot be named because of his age, walked into TSB on Birmingham Street on February 28 wearing a baseball cap and a hood.

He approached the counter and passed a note to cashier ordering her to give him money as he had a gun.

The woman pressed her panic alarm and put £840 into a bag. She believed her ordeal was over – only for him to return 10 days later. He went back to the same cashier and this time managed to get away with £1,240.

Six days later, on March 15, he went into Barclays, in Church Square, where he pulled the same trick, passing the note to the female cashier warning he had a gun, and escaped with £450.

The first cashier, a mother-of-two, said the robberies had made her doubt whether she wanted to continue in her job.

A victim impact statement said: "This incident for the first time made me fear my job. It made me scared for myself and my family."

The youth, who pleaded guilty to three charges of robbery at a previous hearing, broke down in tears as he was sentenced.

District Judge Michael Wheeler said he was not prepared let the boy off a custodial sentence as his crimes were so serious.

Mr Frank Callier, defending, said: "He is a vulnerable young man with difficulties. Youngsters do not always appreciate the impact on their behaviour and do not always think about the consequences."