'Can I give my mum a cuddle?'

'Can I give my mum a cuddle?'

Apr 9 2004

South London Press

A GUNMAN begged a judge for one last cuddle from his mum as he was sent down.

Danny Doyle, 19, and Daniel McLean, 20, were jailed for a total of 14 years for rob-bing a convnience store.

Doyle, of Limes Walk, Nunhead, had been with a gang collecting a drugs debt from Winnall, Hampshire.

But he told a jury he had only acted as a lookout when his three accomplices went on to rob a shop in the town.

Jurors at Winchester Crown Court rejected his account and found him guilty of robbery and possession of a firearm.

As he was sent down for six years on Thursday last week, Doyle cried out: "Can I give my mum a cuddle please?"

He was then heard calling "I love you, Mum", as he was led to the cells.

McLean, of Kennington Park Road, Kennington, admitted all three charges relating to the robbery in September last year, and received eight years.

Sentencing, Judge Patrick Hooton said: "We are living in a society where gun crime is becoming a very serious and deadly problem.

"Those people in the shop might have thought they were going to be killed.

"It is difficult to imagine the fear of someone with a gun in their face."

A third man, Omar Brown, 25, from Limes Walk, Nunhead, was cleared of all charges.

He punched the air when acquitted, saying: "Thank you God."

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