A BANK robber who briefly held a girl hostage while claiming to be armed has been jailed for six years.

Prosecutor Susan Kerr told York Crown Court that Terence Stott, 42, terrified the manager and customers of a North Yorkshire branch of the HSBC bank as he demanded money with a note saying: "I have a firearm. Pay me £1,000 quickly, no fuss."

He grabbed hold of a 15-year-old girl customer and reached for his trouser pocket in a threatening manner.

"Hurry up or I will do something," he warned, refusing to let her go.

When staff at the bank in Harrogate handed over £1,000 in £20 notes he fled to Bridlington.

Then he walked into the east coast resort's police station, saying: "I'm wanted in Harrogate for robbery."

His barrister, Steven Garth, said he had spent all the money.

Stott, no fixed address, pleaded guilty to robbery. The court heard he had been released from jail a month or so before the raid.

"There is no mitigation," Judge James Spencer QC said as he jailed him for six years.

The judge added: "You took hold of this 15-year-old girl who was a stranger to you. She must have been terrified by her ordeal and you refused to let her go".

Habitual criminal Stott had 88 previous convictions for dishonesty over 30 years, and "went up a league" when he staged the robbery.

Mrs Kerr said that Stott entered the bank in Skipton Road, Harrogate, at about 4.20pm on September 13, pushed two women customers aside, including the girl, and handed staff the hand-written note. Then he grabbed the teenager.

The girl had a sore arm where he had held her and both she and the bank manager were shaken and upset by the raid.

For Stott, Steven Garth said his client had planned the robbery just an hour before the raid. He had been in despair after his release from Norwich Jail at the end of a three-and-a-half year sentence. His sister had died during his incarceration and he had difficulty finding accommodation and work.

He never had a gun and had no intention of harming anyone.

Updated: 11:44 Tuesday, October 01, 2002