The man behind a string of terrorising 'armed raids' on betting shops was caught by a railway ticket inspector, a court heard.

Brett Mullan, 51, of Wellington Street, Gravesend, was arrested by Flying Squad detectives who found a collapsible walking stick at his home which he hid in a shopping bag and pretended was a shotgun.

DC Carl Stallabras, of the Flying Squad, said: "Mullan terrified members of the public and staff at the bookmakers who were going about their normal lives when he demanded cash and made threats of serious violence. Those people feared for their lives."

On Monday, (June 6) Mullan pleaded guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court to five charges of robbery and having an imitation firearm.

The court heard that Mullan had been behind a series of five armed robberies on bookmakers in Lee, Norwood, Sutton and Crayford between Monday, April 4, and Sunday, April 24 which had netted him £2,780.

Officers discovered he had been using the train to reach his targets and used station CCTV to track him down.

As he made his way to his second offence in Burnt Ash Road on April 13, Mullan was stopped by a ticket inspector and gave his real name.

Police gathered footage from each offence showing the suspect leaving and returning to his home and arrested him on April 25. He appeared at Barkingside Magistrates' Court the following day and was remanded in custody.

During a search of his house detectives found a collapsible walking stick which he had pretended was a shotgun hidden in a shopping bag. The booking shop spree netted him £2,780.

DC Stallabras added: "A simple mistake on his way to the second offence was all we needed to track him down. From there, the wealth of evidence we obtained left him no choice but to plead guilty."

The thefts happened in High Street, Sutton, on Monday, April 4; Burnt Ash Road, Lee, on Wednesday, April 13, and again on Monday, April 18; High Street, Norwood Junction, on Saturday, April 23, and Crayford Road, Crayford on Sunday, April 24.

Mullan will be sentenced on Monday, August 1.