A STUDLEY man who held up staff at a Co-op store at knifepoint was granted police bail – and then went on to carry out an identical robbery at a nearby Tesco store.

But even though he wore a mask, assistants at both stores knew regular customer Keith Taylor so well that one of them even referred to him by his first name in her witness statement.

So Taylor, 45 of High Street in Studley, was quickly arrested again, and at Warwick Crown Court he was jailed for five years and four months after pleading guilty to both robberies.

Prosecutor Marcus Harry said that on January 24 Taylor went into the Co-op store in Alcester Road, Studley, at 9.30pm.

A regular customer, Taylor had not long been banned for shoplifting, and the staff recognised him immediately despite an attempt to disguise himself with a mask and his hood pulled up.

He opened the door to get behind the counter brandishing a 12-inch metal rod and demanding the till be opened.

A male assistant tried to comply, but when he was unable to open the till, Taylor pulled out a knife and repeated his demand until another member of staff managed to open it.

Taylor put about £200 in cash into a plastic bag and left.

He was arrested the next day and tested positive for drugs, but after answering no comment to questions when he was interviewed, he was given police bail.

Mr Harry said: “This was the first offence he had committed for some 12 years. There was a suspicion it was a desperate one-off act to fund drugs or to pay off a drugs debt.”

But it was not a one-off – because on February 15 he went into the nearby Tesco Express where, although he was again wearing a mask, staff recognised him from tattoos on his hand.

He jumped over the counter brandishing two knives and made a similar demand for money before escaping with a total of £1,070 from the tills.

The staff were able to name him, and he was arrested when police saw him two days later, but again gave no comment replies when he was interviewed, added Mr Harry.

Kevin Grego, defending, said: “It was an offence for which, because he was known, he was very soon arrested; and after the second one, he was arrested in the street a couple of days later.

“He has both a cocaine and a heroin addiction, and he had run up drug debts and was in fear of his life if he didn’t pay them. He hopes to deal with his drug problem while in custody.”

Jailing Taylor, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano said: “It is really unfortunate you were bailed, because what you did next was relatively predictable, and you did the same again at another local store, again making threats with a knife.

“Your problem throughout your grown-up life has been class A drugs. Those drugs have ruined your life, but they don’t have to do so for ever.

“I very much hope that the positive side of this is that it will give you some opportunity to turn your back on them.”