A SOCIAL worker staged a fake armed robbery on his partner to conceal the theft of thousands of pounds from the till – and was caught out by photos saved on a mobile phone.
John Skate, a university graduate who has worked with vulnerable adults in the Grimsby area for some years, disguised himself in a specially-bought "robber's kit" of overalls and a balaclava, Lincoln Crown Court heard.
Skate then arrived at the newsagents' store at an out of town Lincoln shopping centre moments after the manager Christopher Usher opened up for the morning.
Stuart Lody, prosecuting, said Skate – who had armed himself with a broom handle to give the impression he had a gun – was in a relationship with Usher and had agreed to take part in the robbery.
Skate went into the McColl's shop and the pair acted out the robbery.
Skate locked his partner inside a storeroom and made off with almost £8,000 takings as well as £150 worth of cigarettes.
The alarm was raised when an early morning customer arrived to find the shop closed.
Mr Lody, prosecuting, said: "Police officers found Usher cowering in a storeroom which had been secured from the outside preventing him from leaving.
"He appeared to be in great fear. It was taken extremely seriously by the police."
Usher told officers he had been attacked by a man with an East European accent and went on to make a 12-page witness statement, which included a detailed description of his attacker.
John Paul Skate, left, and Chris UsherOfficers set up a major incident investigation, seizing CCTV footage to try to identify the robber.
But during the inquiry, officers discovered a photograph saved on Usher's phone.
It contained an image of the balaclava and the overalls used in the raid.
The focus of the police investigation switched to Usher and Skate, who both confessed they had staged the robbery.
All but a few hundred pounds of the money was subsequently recovered from where it had been buried by Skate in a relative's garden.
Mr Lody said: "The two men were partners. Usher had taken out a joint mortgage with his mother on a property. That mortgage fell into arrears.
"That would seem to be the catalyst which caused him to hatch a plot to stage a fictitious robbery on the shop where he worked.
"The plan was that Skate would dress up as a robber. He would go to the store and a fake armed robbery would be carried out."
Sunil Khanna, for Skate, said: "He initially said no but he was pestered into getting involved. He was blinded by affection for his partner. He simply cannot understand how he got himself involved in this."
Mr Khanna said Skate had spent most of his adult life working in the licensed trade but in 2008 decided on a change of career.
He completed a degree as a mature student and qualified as a social worker.
Mr Khanna said: "He has worked for the council in Grimsby for the past few years.
"He has been working with vulnerable adults. His workload was getting greater and greater and he was involved with some very vulnerable adults. He became unwell and he was at a very low moment in his life when he agreed to this."
Joanna Staples, for Usher, said: "It was an act of desperation. He saw no other way out of his problems other than this severely misconceived notion."
Usher, 30, and Skate, 40, both of Lincoln, each admitted charges of theft and perverting the course of justice on May 7.
Usher was jailed for 34 months and Skate jailed for 26 months.
