A HOODED robber who walked into a shop and handed over a note saying "I have a gun - give me money" has been jailed for nearly seven years.

Gunman Aaron Larkin pulled his hood to hide his face before giving the note to a shop worker in Costcutter in Heworth Road, York, on July 18, said Rob Galley, prosecuting.

When the assistant did not obey fast enough, he showed him the butt of a handgun tucked into his trouser waistband.

“He (the shop assistant) was shocked and panicked,” said the barrister. “He took quantities of notes and passed them to the defendant and asked if he wanted coins.”

When Larkin tried to force a shopworker at knifepoint to do the same at Goldmine in Haxby Road on August 13, the worker refused and Larkin fled with only a wad of tobacco. He had got £170 in notes from Costcutter.

“In both relatively high values of money were being targeted,” said Mr Galley.

Larkin also stole £560 when he burgled Subway’s McArthur Glen outlet. Hours earlier, he had lost his job there when staff found out he had stolen money from a city centre Subway where he had also been employed, said Mr Galley at York Crown Court.

Larkin was caught after he was identified through a police appeal about the second robbery in The Press.

The 25-year-old, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to two robberies, having an imitation firearm with intent to commit a robbery, having a knife in public, possession of cannabis found when he was arrested and burglary.

He was jailed for six years and eight months. Neither weapon has been found by police.

For Larkin, Cheryl Rudden said: “It was a BB gun, I understand.”

After the Goldmine raid, the shop assistant described Larkin to police as “shaking” and a “novice” robber.

In Costcutter, Larkin spent two minutes in the shop trying to talk himself out of carrying out the robbery before handing over the note.

She read out a letter from Larkin to the judge in which he said: “I’m sorry for my actions. I was in a bad place mentally and physically.”

Ms Rudden said at the time of the robberies, Larkin was being evicted and had recently suffered a personal bereavement. He had gone to York Hospital for help, saying he was suicidal and was self-harming, and while on remand had sought mental health help.