GUNMAN Colin Paul Douglas has been convicted of 18 offences, including two armed robberies, arson, carjacking and burglary.

Douglas, who sparked a massive manhunt after going on the run in early March, was yesterday found guilty of an armed robbery, committed just days before he held up a Weymouth post office.

He will now face sentence for a total of 18 offences, including the armed robbery of the Abbotsbury Road Post Office, using a firearm with intent, aggravated vehicle taking, three offences relating to the robbery of a Portland taxi driver, two counts of dangerous driving and possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Other offences Douglas has admitted include theft from a pharmacy, burglary and theft of a vehicle, while he will also be sentenced following convictions for burglary and arson at a Dorchester paper factory.

Douglas, 26, had denied charges of robbing Derrick Thorner, possessing a firearm to commit the offence and falsely imprisoning Mr Thorner.

Douglas, of no fixed abode, was convicted of all three offences following a three-day trial at Dorchester Crown Court.

The jury heard Mr Thorner describe how he was parking up his car at the end of his shift at around 1am on February 25 at garages on Harbour View Road, Portland, when he was approached by a masked gunman.

He said the man was holding a handgun two to three inches from his face and demanded money before searching the garage and taxi.

Mr Thorner eventually handed over a moneybag containing £180 and other items before he was tied up with a bungee rope that had been in the boot of the taxi.

The gunman then locked the taxi driver in the garage and drove off in his vehicle.

Jurors had already been told how Douglas had used a rifle to rob £28,000 from the Abbotsbury Road Post Office on March 2.

After nearly five hours of deliberations, the jury of six men and six women returned unanimous guilty verdicts on all three charges relating to Mr Thorner.

Douglas showed little emotion in the dock as the verdicts were delivered. Following the conviction prosecutor David Richards revealed Douglas had a total of 19 previous convictions for 73 offences, including burglary, robbery and drug offences.

Judge Roger Jarvis also lifted a banning order restricting the media from publishing details of other offences Douglas had pleaded guilty to around the time of the two armed robberies.

He will also now face sentence for a theft at Boots pharmacy on Portland Road, Weymouth, between February 11 and February 15, a burglary at Clearmount Road in Weymouth on February 19 and theft of a Toyota Hilux jeep on the Granby Industrial Estate on February 22.

The order also covered offences relating to the pursuit of Douglas on March 4 as he was finally apprehended by police following a high speed chase. He had pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, possessing a firearm – a semi-automatic rifle - and possessing firearm ammunition. The media was also barred from publishing details of a trial last month, where Douglas was found guilty of committing a burglary and arson at the Dorchester Waste Paper unit at the Casterbridge Industrial Estate in Dorchester on February 20.

Douglas will now be sentenced for a total of 18 offences on December 9, after the case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report and a psychiatric report to be prepared.

Judge Jarvis told the defendant that the only issue to be decided at the sentence hearing would be just how long a prison sentence he is to serve.

He told Douglas: “As you know it’s just a question of length.”