Toryglen robber caught by filling in Lottery ticket

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An armed robber who was caught by filling in a Lottery ticket during a post office hold-up in Glasgow has been jailed for four years.

John Fulton, 53, left his fingerprints on the lottery stand during the raid in Toryglen Post Office in December 2009.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how he pulled down a mask after a staff member told him he was on camera.

Fulton, from Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, admitted carrying out the raid with a firearm or imitation gun.

The court heard how Fulton entered the post office in Toryglen's Glenmore Avenue on 5 December 2009.

He filled out a Lottery ticket and handed it to employee Jacqueline Ullah, before pointing a gun at her and demanding cash.

The 27-year-old asked him: "Are you stupid? You are on camera."

At this point Fulton turned round towards another camera and pulled down a ski-mask style hat in a bid to hide his face.

When another customer came into the shop, Fulton hid the handgun in his jacket and left empty-handed.

The court was told police received information that Fulton had carried out the raid after releasing CCTV images from the post office to the media.

They also identified his fingerprints on the lottery stand.

When he was interviewed Fulton admitted that he sometimes went into the post office, but could not remember being there on the date of the crime.
'Terrifying incident'

He later pleaded guilty to robbery and firearms offences.

Jailing him, Lord Pentland told Fulton: "You have pled guilty to two serious offences arising from an incident on December 5 in 2009 when you attempted to rob a post office by threatening a young woman employee with what certainly appeared to her to be a firearm.

"In the circumstances it makes little difference whether the gun was real or not.

"I note this young lady was alone in the post office at the time. It is clear from the victim impact statement she has provided that this was a terrifying incident and she has been left badly affected."

The judge said he accepted that Fulton was distressed by his father's illness at the time and was said to be desperate for money, but it could not provide an excuse for arming himself with a weapon and attempting to hold up the post office.