David Shoubridge - a former British champion motorcyclist - has been jailed for eight years after stealing more than £100,000 from betting shops and service stations.
The 35-year-old from Hatfield was sentenced at St Albans Crown Court on Friday (February 23), having pleaded guilty to numerous offences committed between November 2022 and July 2023.
The incidents took place at bookmakers in Hatfield and Potters Bar, and the Welcome Break service station at South Mimms.
Offences of robbery, attempted robbery, going equipped for theft, attempted theft, possession of an imitation firearm, thefts and possession of a firearm were all committed.
Shoubridge's lawyer blamed his crimes on drugs and gambling and said, before then, Shoubridge had enjoyed a successful career as a motorbike racer.
Prosecution barrister Philip Mizner said the former racer wore black clothing and a balaclava or motorbike helmet and wielded what appeared to be a handgun when targeting premises.
On several occasions he used an angle grinder and crowbar to break into cash machines, and at one robbery left his DNA belonging to a BB pistol, which allowed police to link him to the offence.
Shoubridge was eventually caught red handed at the scene of an attempted robbery, and apprehended by police using a taser gun, but gave false details and refused to answer questions at interview. He later claimed he had been using cocaine.
Going through the offences, Mr Mizner said on one occasion Shoubridge pointed the gun at a female employee, shouting at her: “Where’s the money, money, money, money?!”
One of his victims, who worked at a Ladbrokes betting shop in Crown Hall Parade, Potters Bar, said she managed to lock herself behind the cashier’s door when he entered the premises, hiding away in the safe while waiting for him to leave.
The cashier said: “Everything felt like it was going at 100 miles an hour, but it also felt like a lifetime. My heart was racing the whole time and I couldn’t stop crying... I didn’t leave the house for days after.”
In the wake of the attempted robbery, she suffered repeated nightmares about someone with a balaclava breaking into her home: “I used to be such a happy, bubbly, person. Now when I’m on my own I’m constantly looking around and always on edge.
"It’s been a long time and I’m still not over it. Every aspect of my life has changed because of that man and what he did.”
Another of his victims, a 20-year-old university student working in a bookmakers to raise money for her education, said after the robbery: “I felt genuine terror, fell to the floor crying and screaming while this man stood above me pointing the gun down at me. I was so scared I couldn’t even get up. He grabbed my arm, forcing me up and leaving bruises.
“When I got home I was just a mess and couldn’t even speak. For the first time in 10 years I had to sleep in bed with my mum. I couldn’t understand how someone could do something like this to another person.”
Defence barrister Dan Taylor said there was nothing he could say which could diminish the impact Shoubridge’s actions had on his victims, but suggested although the offences were planned this was not professional and often fairly amateurish.
“There is an air of desperation about some of the robberies that took place,” he said.
“Until he fell into the drug and gambling habits which are the cause of this offending he led a successful career as a British Motorbike champion.”
He described it as an incredibly sad case, and a life-changing event for the victims, the defendant and his family.
Judge Michael Roques said he was firmly of the view that Shoubridge’s actions had a devastating impact on two young women present at his offending, and that amounted to serious psychological harm as a result of what happened.
“It is all too obvious that if you point a gun at a young woman at work that is the sort of reaction which would follow.”
Shoubridge had no previous record, and was treated as a man of good character by the judge when passing sentence.
Judge Roques said: “It is an extraordinary list of offences for someone who has never been before the court before.
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“You knew a number of the victims you were subsequently to terrify, including young women on their own at work.
"The far greater harm caused was the devastating impact this had on the people working.
“To live in fear is a terrible consequence for anybody and it seems to be an entirely predictable consequence of the way you chose to act.”
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