Is wannabe golf coach world’s most stupid bank robber?

A desire to attend an interview for a position as a golf coach in Corfu resulted in a bizarre bank robbery attempt

A wannabe golf coach has claims to be the world’s most stupid bank robber

Paul Neaverson, 61, wanted some money so as to travel to Corfu for a job interview as a golf coach.

So he walked in to a branch of NatWest in Rainham, Kent, and held a knife to the cashier's neck and asked for money.

So far so good - well so bad, as we at Golf Monthly do not advocate bank robbing, but you know what we mean. However his next move is what earns him a nomination as the world’s most stupid bank robber.

Rather than ask for the money in unmarked notes in a bag - a golf bag perhaps might have been appropriate  - he had a better solution - would the cashier simply transfer the money into his account.

You can see his point, banks aren’t always that safe a place, and there are thieves about. After all, as a case in point, his own bank was being held up at that very moment.

In order to facilitate this transfer, the wannabe bank robber obligingly gave the cashier his name and bank details. The cashier then set off the alarm.

Neaverson fled. But, as one who wanted to go to Corfu, he is obviously a fellow who has a desire for travel, so he travelled the short par-3 distance to the nearest HSBC branch and had another go at robbing a bank.

This was also unsuccessful as he left when the cashier there told him they didn’t have the £500 he wanted in the till.

At Maidstone Crown Court Neaverson, of Rainham, Kent, pleaded guilty to two attempted robberies and possession of a blade. He has now been jailed for two years.

Danny Moore, defending, told the court Neaverson had never been in trouble with the law before and that his attempt to become a bank robber was "ridiculous. It only had one ending - and here it is. He has led a law-abiding life and now finds himself staring down the barrel of a very long sentence indeed."