‘Don’t hurt my nanny’: Five-year-old’s plea to gunman in skeleton mask

CCTV capture of armed burglar attempting to rob Larkman Lane's Kwik Save store (Image: Archant)

Michael Roode, 39, wore the mask when he got into the home, together with others, in Theobald Road, Norwich, armed with a large silver handgun.

Roode pointed the gun at the homeowner who answered the door, before forcing her into the lounge where her five-year-old granddaughter was.

The child asked the man not to "hurt her nanny" before a second man, wearing a bandana across his face, came in.

Norwich Crown Court heard Roode went upstairs to a bedroom where the victim's son was playing on his Xbox. He was grabbed around the neck and had a gun held to his neck before being hit on his head and ankle.

They demanded money and he was forced downstairs at gunpoint.

Money was taken from his wallet and his mother's purse before they left following the robbery at about 7.30pm on January 9.

Less than two hours later, at about 9.10pm, Roode entered the Kwik Save store on Larkman Lane, Norwich - again wearing a skeleton mask, holding a handgun and a claw hammer.

No items were stolen as he was unable to get into the till after the store owner put up a fight before fleeing through the back door and calling police.

Roode had walked directly up to the till pointing the gun towards the shopkeeper in his left hand.

He shouted "open the till or I will bang you".

But the victim grabbed a stick from behind the till area and held it up in a bid to defend himself.

Roode then pulled a claw hammer out of the bag and held it up in his right hand while still holding the gun towards the shopkeeper.

But the victim was able to escape and call police.

Chris Youell, prosecuting, said the incident came days after Roode, together with others, raided the Royal Garden Chinese Restaurant in Attleborough.

During the raid, at 7.30pm on January 3, Roode threatened two staff with the gun and forced them to the rear of the restaurant where he demanded money.

He grabbed £300 from the till before escaping.

Victim impact statements read out in court on Tuesday (August 27) described their terror.

The woman living at the property in Theobald Road said the incident had "affected me badly". She felt "powerless" to stop the intruder and to protect her own granddaughter.

Her son said he did not regard himself as a nervous person, but had been so scared that he and his family had been attacked in this way and had no idea why.

The court also heard a statement read out on behalf of the shopkeeper at the Kwik Save store, describing how he felt "scared" and now needed to have another member of staff in the shop with him and had also now got a panic button installed.

One of the workers in the Chinese restaurant said she now felt "scared" and had been in fear she was going to be shot by the masked man.

A chef who works at the restaurant said he had been in fear he would be shot during the incident, which had had a big impact on his life.

Roode, formerly of Motum Road, Norwich, was given an extended sentence of 10 years custody and five years on licence after being assessed as a dangerous offender by Judge Anthony Bate.

Sentencing Roode, Judge Bate said he had an "unenviable" record, much of which was as a result of his long-standing drug addiction.

Judge Bate said that only Roode knew if the gun he used in the robberies was "real or not" and described him as a "very significant risk of serious harm to the public".

John Morgans, mitigating, said Roode accepted "full responsibility" for what he had done and now realised he had caused "significant pain and harm" as a result of his actions.