Manchester man jailed for robbing Blackpool bank
A 25-year-old Manchester man who used a replica gun to hold up a Blackpool bank has been jailed for five years.
Stuart Mcainsh, of Foleshill Avenue, threatened staff at the Royal Bank of Scotland on Red Bank Road on 8 August. He made off with almost £3,000 in cash.
Mcainsh was sentenced at Preston Crown Court after admitting robbery and possessing an imitation firearm.
Det Sgt George Binns said the raid was "terrifying" for staff and customers, some of them young children.
Mcainsh was ordered to serve four years and six months for robbery and six months for the firearms offence, with the sentences to be served consecutively.
Speaking after the case, Det Sgt Binns said: "Mcainsh went on to gamble away the money he had stolen.
"This was a fast-moving and complex police investigation and I hope that the subsequent sentence handed out to Mcainsh will serve as a warning to those who come into the county to commit crime.
"We do not tolerate criminals in Lancashire and will do everything we can to put them before the courts and behind bars."