A MAN WHO used a lifelike latex mask to change his skin colour and carry out a series of armed robberies has been jailed for 14 years.
Henley Stephenson, 41, carried out a series of raids that go back as far as 1999 using a semi-automatic pistol and disguise which completely concealed his black skin colour with a white mask, Press Association reports.
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Investigators managed to link the crimes through CCTV footage, mobile phones, witness statements and surveillance operations.
Stephenson was jailed for 14 years at a court in London on Friday after pleading guilty to 19 counts of robbery and five counts of possessing a firearm.
The Huffington Post reports that in one incident he robbed a cash-in-transit security guard outside a Tesco Express store in North London and made off with £250 in cash.
In other robberies he stormed stores with two accomplices, on one occasion firing a weapon into the air.
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Eventually he and his two accomplices were arrested after targetting a security outside a Curry’s electronic store last summer attempting to make off with nearly £20,000 in cash before police swooped.
His accomplices, Leon Topper, 22, and Dean Williams, 26, are awaiting sentencing after they also pleaded guilty to robbery and firearm possession offences.