Derry woman charged with 'shambolic effort' at a robbery jailed

A woman has been jailed at Derry Crown Court following a 'shambolic effort' at a robbery.

Michaela Edgar (33) of Hydebank was charged with, on February 11 last year, robbing a shop with an imitation firearm.

Edgar entered the shop and told staff that two boys had sent her to rob it. Staff told her that she wasn't getting anything and Edgar told them that she had a gun.

When told she still wasn't getting anything, she reached for the cash drawer and took a number of vaping items before leaving the shop.

Police found her outside the shop holding the imitation gun and she was subsequently arrested.

Judge Neil Rafferty KC called the robbery 'surprising and bizarre', citing factors such as Edger using a taxi to get to the shop and waiting outside for police to arrive.

She was sentenced to three years in custody.