A man jailed after a stand-off with armed police in Jedburgh has been caged for 10 years for armed robberies and making bomb threats in London.
David Williamson used an imitation gun in his robberies and his bomb-threat targets included Harrods and the city’s rail network.
Williamson, 50, was convicted by a jury at Kingston Crown Court on two counts of robbery in London and Warrington; two counts of possessing an imitation firearm while committing the robberies; possession of the imitation weapon with intent to cause of violence in Kent; five bomb hoaxes and possessing a firearm with intent.
He was jailed for each of the offences and his total sentence was 10 years.
In 2008, Williamson was locked up for 22 months at Jedburgh Sheriff Court after armed police surrounded his house in the town’s Bongate View. He also sent death threats, that included decapitation, from his cell in Edinburgh’s Saughton Prison and received a High Court jail sentence.
The jury in London was told Williamson began his armed robbery spree by entering a Maidstone branch of The Money Shop on October 25, 2012, and attempting to obtain cash by fraud. He was challenged by staff and left, but returned and pointed a black handgun at staff who activated an alarm and Williamson left empty-handed.
Later that day in London Williamson entered The Delmere Hotel near Hyde Park and produced the gun at a lone female receptionist, causing her to fear for her life. She gave him the contents of the till and he left.
Two days later, Williamson attended a bureau de change counter in the Golden Square shopping centre in Warrington where he showed the staff his gun and they handed over almost £4,000.
Williamson was tracked on CCTV leaving the shopping centre and catching a bus out of the city centre. Armed-response officers from Cheshire Constabulary stopped the bus at Runcorn town centre where he was arrested.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Flying Squad became involved in the investigation and on November 15, 2012, Williamson was charged with armed robberies in Kent and London.
Before the robbery spree, Williamson made four phone calls to police on October 14, 2012, claiming there were several explosive devices planted across central London and on the rail network. On the same day he called at Harrods and left a note for staff stating that an explosive device had been planted. He was arrested for the Harrods bomb hoax by the Flying Squad at the same time as the robberies.
In March last year, Williamson was arrested by officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Unit who had identified his voice and he was charged with four counts of causing a bomb hoax.