on 3 december 1992, collins was arrested and charged with armed robbery on an off-licence near his home. collins had been driving with a friend, who performed the robbery when collins was waiting in his car outside. collins claimed to have no foreknowledge of the robbery until he heard a gunshot inside the shop and his friend exited, although later admitted that he should not have picked his friend up after he realised what he had done. in court collins pleaded guilty to "assisting an offender after an offence", for which he was sentenced to eight months imprisonment. his former charge of "armed robbery" (resulting in a possible sentence of eight years or more) was dropped in court. collins served four months of his sentence and was released in early 1994.