A “DANGEROUS” career criminal who robbed a Shipley bookies armed with a knife and a house-brick has been handed an extended jail term.

Bradford Crown Court heard that Lee Kelly, 32, had only spent around two years out of custody since the age of 16.

He had been released from a 10-year sentence for robbery in January, just months before targeting the Ladbrokes shop on Kirkgate on the evening of June 5.

Prosecutor Stephen Wood said that Kelly had entered the shop around 7.30pm, slamming the brick on the counter before asking a lone young male staff member to open the till.

His behaviour was described as “not overly aggressive, but assertive.”

The man said he “froze” when he saw Kelly was brandishing a knife, and backed away as the defendant “leapt onto the counter” and grabbed £30.

The court heard Kelly said: “Is this it?”, before he was disturbed by another customer who entered the shop and threw a stool at him.

He fled the building, but dropped the knife as he ran towards Shipley train station.

Kelly was caught by police after a short foot chase, with officers describing him as being “clearly intoxicated” by drink or drugs.

The defendant, formerly of Hartland Road, Holme Wood, Bradford, pleaded guilty to charges of robbery, the possession of an offensive weapon, and the possession of a bladed article.

The court heard that Kelly had been given the 10-year sentence in January 2013 for a “violent personal robbery” on a family in Bradford as they celebrated Christmas Day.

Kelly, along with his cousin Martin, who shared the same surname, burst into the house armed with a shotgun and hammer, pointing the gun at a man’s head until he handed over a set of car keys.

Speaking after their terrifying ordeal, described as like “something from a horror movie”, the family branded the pair as “monsters”.

Mr Wood said that, in total, Kelly had 22 previous convictions for 57 offences, including many for assault, affray, burglary, and driving matters.

David Gordon, in mitigation, said his client warranted credit for his guilty pleas, but accepted that a “substantial sentence must be imposed”.

He said the bookies raid was “short-lived” and “thoroughly amateurish”, describing it as “not in the same category” as Kelly’s previous armed robbery offence.

Mr Gordon said the defendant had been “at liberty” for a total of only two years since turning 16, caused by an addiction to drink and drugs.

He said: “Those have been his poisons for some time.

“He has come to regard prison as his home, and he struggles on the outside.

“It is a strange world, to which he isn’t really familiar. He apologises by his plea.”

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, agreed that Kelly had targeted cash from the shop due to his failure to cope with the outside world.

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He said: “You armed yourself with a knife and a brick.

“Assertive you may have been, but you probably had no need to be. Your presence and demands for money must have been thoroughly compelling.

“You were expecting more. You were expecting, obviously, a bookmaker to have a proper amount of cash.

“I must wonder what risk you pose to the public.

“You cannot cope, you will not reform, you will re-offend.

“You cannot see any alternative course. It is a sad indictment of many things.”

Judge Durham Hall said he was satisfied that Kelly “warranted a finding of dangerousness”, leaving no option but to pass an extended sentence.

Kelly was sentenced to five years in prison, with the judge also imposing an additional extended licence period of five years.