A MASKED robber whose voice was recognised when he threatened former workmates at gunpoint was yesterday jailed for nine years.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard how Darren Rowlands, 29, had returned to the Boscombe double glazing company where he had been employed to rob staff on October 25 last year.

Just four days earlier Rowlands, formerly of Bournemouth YMCA, raided a Nottingham building society.

He admitted four counts of robbery and one charge of possessing an imitation firearm.

Prosecuting, Robert Gray recalled how a cashier had handed over £1,300 after Rowlands "used his fingers in a gun shape to make her think he might have one hidden."

Following the raid, Rowlands travelled to Bournemouth. "He knew staff at the company where he worked got paid on a Friday evening. A number were finishing their shift when he entered, brandishing a black hand gun," said Mr Gray.

One employee gave Rowlands £300 after feeling "the barrel of the gun being put to the back of his head," said Mr Gray.

Another recognised Rowlands' voice before he kicked open the manager's office door and demanded cash.

Rowlands fled with a safety deposit box containing £1,100 but staff who gave chase spotted him making his getaway.

He was traced to a Bournemouth hotel and arrested the next day when he told police he had been "off his nut on crack."

Mr Gray recalled how two employees had suffered stress and sleepless nights since the raid.

Frank Abbott, defending, said: "It was easy for him to get money in the building society and that spurred him on because he was in desperate need of money for drugs. It is extremely sad because his habit drove him back to crime."

Sentencing Rowlands, Judge James Meston told him: "The descriptions from witnesses and victims confirm how terrifying your behaviour was."