A HEROIN addict passed a note demanding money to a Studley bank cashier, and threatened to kill one of her colleagues if she did not comply.

Mark Hagan escaped with about £340 from the Lloyds Bank branch in Studley – but was arrested three days later after the police recognised his distinctive spelling in the note.

Hagan, 46, of Oak Tree Avenue in Batchley, was jailed for four years after pleading guilty at Warwick Crown Court to the robbery and two offences of possessing a knife in public.

Prosecutor Tim Harrington said that cashier Carol Powles had worked at Lloyds Bank for 30 years, and was behind the counter when Hagan came in during the afternoon of October 13, disguising his face by pulling his hoodie across as he did so.

He passed her a note under the security screen, threatening staff that they were his hostages and that if anyone called the police he would kill them.

Hagan told the cashier: “Read that. I’ve got mental health issues.”

And as Ms Powles picked up the note to read it, he swore at her and ordered: "Give me the money now.”

She was joined by a colleague, and the two women tried to calm him down by telling him they would try to help.

Bank employee Anthony Cox, who had been in an office with the door open, came out into the public area to see what was happening and Hagan produced a knife with a 10-inch blade.

Waving the knife around, Hagan shouted: “If you don’t give me the money now, I’ll take him hostage and harm him.”

The women grabbed just over £300 and pushed it under the screen towards Hagan who picked it up and walked out.

Police officers examined the note and recognised the distinctive spelling used by Hagan, who had no fewer than 64 previous convictions for 152 offences, mainly for minor thefts.

His fingerprint was also found on the note, said Mr Harrington.

Hagan was found three days later and arrested as he came out of a pub on Unicorn Hill, in the town centre, but he said nothing when he was then interviewed about the robbery.

Lee Marklew, defending, said: “The execution of this robbery was sloppy in the extreme; and while there was a great degree of tension, no-one was physically hurt.”

He said Hagan, who had never done anything as serious before, was "in the unyielding grip of heroin" and carried out the robbery because he was desperate for funds to feed his habit.

Jailing Hagan, Recorder Christopher Tickle told him: “No doubt to feed a drug habit, you put others in fear.

“I appreciate the ladies were behind glass and that Mr Cox managed to get behind the counter, but you had produced this knife and used it to threaten them while they are seeking to do a service for the public.

“You do have a long record, enough for a small book, but what possessed you to go and do this, heaven only knows.”