A FORMER Co-op security guard jailed for 21 years for a string of armed robberies has now admitted his crimes.
Modou Ndow effectively confessed in a letter to Judge James Sampson before he sentenced him yesterday at Nottingham Crown Court.
Judge Sampson said it did show, perhaps to a miniscule extent, a degree of remorse.
"I have today been handed a letter, which you have written, in which you effectively admit the offences which the jury found you guilty of yesterday.
"What that means is that throughout this trial, and as you gave evidence, you brazenly lied to this jury. And had they bought the account, you would have got away with this scot free."
Ndow had denied he was the man behind the terrifying raids with a knife or imitation gun at Co-op stores in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
He got away with more than �21,000 in eight months after losing his job with the company in October 2009. Ndow threatened to shoot, stab or kill workers as he demanded cash.
The 41-year-old, born in the Gambia, had claimed he was not responsible for the robberies and had won more than �10,000 gambling since he lost his job.
His victims did not have to give evidence in court and their statements about the robberies were read out.
Even police officers were disturbed by some of the CCTV footage, particularly those of a worker shielding her son at one store and of a manager with a pistol held to the back of his head.
Ndow, of Westwood Road, Sneinton, was convicted on 13 charges – eight robberies, four counts of possessing an imitation firearm and one count of assault causing actual bodily harm to a worker at the Co-op in Highbury Vale, Bulwell.
He robbed shops in Long Eaton, Sneinton Dale, Carrington, Lowdham, Carlton and Sherwood and twice raided the same store in Radford.
The 41-year-old had worked at all of them except the Carrington shop.
Judge Sampson told him: "You are a cruel and calculating individual and you cynically, deliberately induced terror and fear of death into your victims."
Temporary Detective Inspector Rob McKinnell, who led the investigation, said: "Ndow got away with more than �21,000 during the course of these offences, and progressed from threatening staff with a knife to using an imitation firearm to intimidate them into handing over money.
"This escalation, and the fact that he was prepared to use physical violence, clearly demonstrates that he is a dangerous man who was prepared to take extreme measures to get what he wanted.
"I can only imagine how the staff members felt when Ndow confronted them, but I know that many of them have been left traumatised by their experience, and while the firearm he used was an imitation, they had no way of knowing that at the time."
A spokesperson for The Co-operative Group said: "We can confirm that Mr Ndow is an ex-employee, having worked as a security support officer across a number of our food stores between December 2008 and October 2009.
"Following these robberies we undertook a thorough review of our procedures and equipment, and as a result have made a number of improvements."
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