A FORMER University of Worcester student who attempted an armed raid at the HSBC branch in Ledbury described himself as a ‘modern-day Robin Hood’ who stole from the rich to give to the poor.

Police raided Stephen Jackley’s room at the Henwick Road campus following his arrest in the US and found a diary where he had planned to steal £100,000 and give it to good causes.

The 23-year-old has admitted a total of 18 offences which were committed across Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Devon in 2007 and 2008.

They include the incident in High Street in Ledbury on March 4 last year.

Armed police and dog handlers rushed to the scene when a man thought to be wearing a wig and false goatee beard walked into the branch passed a note to the cashier and demanded cash.

In total there were five robberies, three attempted robberies, seven offences of possessing a firearm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, burglary and attempted burglary.

Despite a string of appeals for information from police, his identity eluded detectives until he was arrested in the United States in May 2008 for trying to buy a gun with fake identification in the state of Vermont.

When US officers contacted British police and they searched his room in the halls of residence they discovered a suspect device which forced the evacuation of the site and uncovered evidence linking him to the crimes.

In a diary seized by police he set out how he planned to steal £100,000 from banks and other companies and planned to give the money to good causes.

It emerged after the hearing that Jackley, of Sidmouth, Devon, had written to a local newspaper claiming: “I will continue to take from the rich and give to the poor. I am the modern-day Robin Hood.”

Detective Constable Alex Bingham of Exeter CID said: “Jackley referred to himself as Robin Hood in diaries and said he was against multinational corporations.

“He listed in chronological order the places he had been to that he planned to rob, the places he did rob, how he did it, how he felt about it and how he thought the victims felt.

“He wrote about how he felt guilty about upsetting his victims. He also set himself a target of £100,000.”

Jackley will be sentenced at Worcester Crown Court today where he faces a lengthy prison sentence.