Story By: Koen Berghuis, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: CEN
A bank robber who stole more than 20,000 GBP by holding up cashiers with a toy gun has turned himself in after blowing the cash on hotels and buying new clothes instead of washing his old ones.
The man, identified only as Michael B., 49, has now been jailed for three-and-a-half years by a court in the city of Dresden in the eastern Germany state of Saxony.
He told the court he had taken the drastic decision to rob the bank as a last resort to clear his mountain of debts.
Pictures Credit: CEN
But once he had the money, he embarked on a nationwide spending spree, staying in posh hotels and buying new clothes every day rather than going to a launderette.
Michael B., from the town of Detern in the north-western German state of Lower Saxony, ended up in debt despite his steady job as a machine operator.
He failed to live within his means but told the court he had lived in a state of denial, refusing to open up so much as a single letter for two-and-a-half years.
But, eventually, he could hide from the truth no longer after bailiffs came knocking on his door and he came up with his madcap scheme to get out of trouble.
Michael B. took a train to Dresden in October 2018 and went straight to the city’s Karstadt departure store to buy a toy gun.
He then went to a branch of the Deutsche Bank in the Neustadt neighbourhood of Dresden.
Wearing gloves, a surgical mask and a black woolly hat, he threatened cashiers with the toy gun and ordered them to empty the contents of the safe into his paper bag.
Incredibly, Michael B. managed to walk away with 25,130 EUR (21,740 GBP) and 330 USD (256 GBP) in the raid.
But instead of heading home to pay off his debts, he decided he liked Dresden so much he stayed in the city for three more days enjoying his ill-gotten gains.
Michael B. then boarded another train and headed to southern Germany where he embarked on a tour of 20 different cities, always staying in the top hotels.
He told the court he bought new clothes every day “because I could not do the laundry”.
Michael B. finally ran out of money in January and returned to Dresden where he handed himself in to the cops.
A police officer said: “He said he’d spent the loot. He also felt pressured by the manhunt after a wanted picture of him during the crime appeared in the papers.”
