A ruthless robber is facing a long jail sentence for committing a £100,000 armed raid on security guards at a Kent supermarket.

Stephen Dalligan will be assessed for dangerousness and could face an indeterminate sentence for public protection.

His co-accused, 23-year-old escort girl and pole dancer Chloe Brown, walked free after a jury acquitted her of involvement in the raid.

Dalligan, of Kingshall Road, Beckenham, was unanimously convicted of robbery, possessing an imitation firearm, false imprisonment and concealing criminal property.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how Dalligan, 48, pounced as a delivery was being made to a cash machine at Asda in Sittingbourne on May 13.

The jury of eight men and four women heard how guards Christopher Hanmore and David Finnegan, who work for Loomis, were loading money into the machine when Dalligan appeared with the gun.

Dalligan later bought a BMW X5 car for £14,000 in cash. Police searched his bedroom at his mother’s home and found £49,000 in a shoe box.

The prosecution said Miss Brown, of Lee, south east London, had been Dalligan’s companion in the months leading up to the raid and alleged she helped him spend some of the money stolen.

She denied aiding and abetting Dalligan in the robbery and firearm charges and was acquitted of both.

Judge Philip Statman told Dalligan, who will be sentenced on January 13: "You must understand you are facing a very substantial custodial sentence."