A MAN who had been freed from a jail term for trying to rob a Travelodge with a water pistol was sent back to prison on Tuesday for a shop robbery.

Daniel Jones, 39, of no fixed address, had been jailed for 42 months in May 2017 and released on licence shortly before he robbed a worker at the “Stop and Shop” convenience store in Bangor high street, Gwynedd, on April 5. He admitted robbery and possessing a knife.

Prosecuting barrister James Coutts told Caernarfon crown court that Jones disguised himself with a hat and scarf. He’d shouted : "Open the till, give me the money quick.”

The shopworker asked if he were joking but Jones pushed over a cigarette display, in anger, and again demanded cash. Mr Coutts said £85 was recovered from Jones.

He said :”Around 20 minutes later the defendant attended Bangor police station and handed himself in, telling officers he had just committed a robbery.”

A knife was recovered from a nearby alley.

Mr Coutts said Jones apologised to police for his behaviour. The prosecutor added that Jones’s previous convictions included a twelve-year jail term for manslaughter following the death of a two-year-old child.

Recorder John Philpotts jailed Jones for five years and extended his licence by three years. He said Jones would serve two-thirds of the five years before the Parole Board considered his release.

The judge told him : "You pose a significant risk of causing serious harm to the public.”

He said Jones had amassed “a pretty bad record” although after the Bangor robbery he had been “extraordinarily cooperative” with the police.

Defence barrister Simon Rogers said :"The real sadness of this case is the motivation behind the commission of the offence.

He had recently been released on licence, had been staying in Bangor in a hostel and it seems lost that accommodation.

“He was told he would have to go back to South Wales while they tried to find accommodation for him. In effect he was homeless. He found himself in a desperate situation and sadly he reverted to type.”

Mr Rogers suggested Jones was “institutionalised.”

His life had been blighted by drug misuse. “Sadly, it seems prison holds no real fear for him,” counsel added.