January 27, 2023 4.00 pm This story is over 24 months old

Nine years jail for bookmaker knifepoint robber

One bookies in Lincolnshire and another in Kettering

By Local Democracy Reporter

A 35-year-old man has been jailed for nine years, with an additional five years on extended licence, after robbing two bookmakers in just over a week with a knife and meat cleaver.

William John Appleyard, of no fixed address, entered S&D Bookmakers in Market Deeping, Lincolnshire on June 13 last year, where he threatened the lone employee with a knife and demanded cash.

He stole the cashier’s mobile phone along with the cash before fleeing the scene, though thankfully the employee was unharmed in the incident.

Just nine days later, on June 22, Appleyard then went to a Ladbrokes in Kettering. Armed with a six-inch meat cleaver, he threatened the manager and stole £500 from the cash register.

He escaped on a bicycle but a Northamptonshire Police dog handler spotted him in a flat later that day.

Appleyard tried to escape but after a short foot chase, he was restrained by local officers.

As he was being arrested, he assaulted a police officer, and a search of his bag found a quantity of cash and Class A drugs recovered, along with the meat cleaver he had used in the Ladbrokes robbery.

Appleyard was sentenced to a total of nine years in prison during a Northampton Crown Court appearance on Friday, January 20.

Five of those years were for the robbery in Lincolnshire, with the remaining four allocated to the Northamptonshire incident.

As well as this, the 35-year-old was placed on extended licence, meaning he would be returned to prison if he committed another offence in the five years after his release from jail.

Appleyard received a further two years and three month sentence, running concurrently with his robbery conviction, after pleading guilty to the assault of an emergency worker and possessing a bladed article.

Detective Constable Scott McKenzie, who led the investigation for Northamptonshire Police, said: “The sentence handed to William Appleyard reflects the seriousness of the offences he committed, and the physical and mental impact his crimes has had on his victims.

“Tackling serious violence is a matter of priority for Northamptonshire Police and I hope this case demonstrates our determination to bring those responsible for these crimes to justice and make our communities a safer place to live and work.”


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