A SERVING soldier has been honoured by a judge in court after he confronted a gunman during a raid at a betting shop in Birmingham.
Lance Corporal Jason Robinson, 26, who has served three tours of duty in Iraq and is preparing to go to Afghanistan later this year, came face-to-face with a gunman during the terrifying attack at Ladbrokes, in Warwick Road, Acocks Green.
The dad-of-two was hailed a hero for coming to the rescue of staff who had been targeted by the same man with a machete just six days before the incident in August last year.
Drug addict Shazad Mahmood, aged 25, of Tenby Road, was sentenced to a total of nine years in prison for charges of robbery, attempted robbery, possession of a machete and an imitation firearm (the prosecution could not prove the gun was real and it has never been found).
Judge Patrick Thomas QC told Birmingham Crown Court during sentencing: “I have to say that we expect soldiers to be brave and cool in a crisis, but this particular young man seems to have gone beyond expectations.
“He brought the whole situation under control through this own bravery and cool-headedness. It was an extraordinary act of courage.”
LCpl Robinson, who lives with fiancée Sarah in Solihull with son Rhys, two and six month old daughter Summer, was on leave and at his local betting shop when the masked man burst in, demanding cash, at 6.45pm on August 9 – just six days after the machete incident at the same shop when Mahmood got away with £1,390.
