Britain’s most inept robber thought that, at last, he had pulled off the perfect crime. His disguise was still intact and the cash was stuffed in his bag, Terence Cole prodded his finger against the security glass and warned the Nationwide cashier: “You had better not lock me in.”

Unfortunately for him he had forgotten to wear gloves. Kent Police quickly identified him from his fingerprint.

The Nationwide job was his fifth attempt to steal money from banks and building societies. In all five he wore a fluorescent workman’s jacket, which proved a visual aid for witnesses, who were then able to recall his features and pick him out in an identity parade.

He was arrested after police spotted him loitering outside the Chelsea Building Society wearing his trade-mark jacket as he planned his next crime.

Cole, 50, was jailed for 9½ years yesterday at Maidstone Crown Court.

The court heard that in December last year, staff at a Lloyds TSB branch in Chatham, Kent, were preparing to lock up when he ran in shouting “Give me all your money”. His scarf fell off his face and he fled.

Ten days later, at the the Halifax in nearby Strood, he demanded money from Carly Glover, a cashier. She activated the security screen which sent bank notes and leaflets flying into the air.

Cole’s bag with the money was trapped on the wrong side of the screen. He again left empty handed.

Undeterred, he targeted the Nationwide building society the same day. His wagging finger left behind the proof that he was the man linked to four bank jobs going back to the 1990s. However, he did escape with £3,040.

He discarded the high visibility jacket in a public lavatory. A piece of tape on it concealed a company name that led to a tenant at an address where Cole was lodging. Four days later, on December 18, Cole went to the Woolwich Building Society in Gillingham High Street, where Claire Meadows, a cashier, was forced to hand over £1,390. “She was left absolutely petrified and in a state of shock,” said the prosecutor.

After Cole was arrested he was found to have a carrier bag containing a wooden handle.

Cole’s first robbery dated back 30 years. He was jailed at Bristol Crown Court for three years. Two years later he was locked up for seven years. In 1993 he was jailed for six years at Maidstone Crown Court. He was on licence when he committed the latest offences. Catherine Donnelly, defending, said Cole had spent a substantial part of his life in custody.A Kent police source said: “If every robber was as easy to catch as Terence everybody would be happy. He must be the worst bank robber in Britain.”

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