A SERIAL armed robber and ‘gambling addict’ has been handed a fresh six-year jail term after stealing £650 from a Dorset betting shop.

Daniel Holland was on licence from a life sentence imposed for similar crimes in 2005 when, earlier this year, he entered Ladbrokes in West Moors wearing a balaclava and brandishing a knife and demanded money from a terrified member of staff.

The 58-year-old was jailed for four years in March this year after an attempted robbery at a Tesco Express store in the same area, a raid which took place less than three weeks after the Ladbrokes robbery.

Jailing him for a separate six-year period, Recorder Stephen Climie said Holland – who admitted the crime – was a “dangerous” offender.

He said of the inveterate gambler: “For many years in order to fund that addiction you have chosen from time-to-time to commit some of the most serious offences.”

The judge said the “trauma” inflicted on the cashier, who had left her job as a result of the incident, had satisfied him that had Holland been convicted after a trial he would have imposed a sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.

Prosecutor Sadie Rizzo said Holland was arrested following the Tesco raid and his DNA matched that found on a chair in Ladbrokes, which he had thrown at the cashier.

When interviewed by police, he claimed the DNA was explained by his regular presence in the shop for betting.

In mitigation, Tom Evans said Holland had a normal upbringing, was successful at school and had worked his whole life, but gambling had been his downfall.

“In the late ’80s he starts to accrue bad debt. The first robberies are in the late ’80s, early ’90s,” he said.

“He had borrowed money from the wrong people.”

He said Holland’s robberies were not planned and occurred when he had debts to repay.

The defendant was last released from prison on 2012, it having been deemed an acceptable risk by a parole board.

Mr Evans said his client had “kept himself on track” for six month before he began gambling again.

The judge imposed an extended four-year licence period under the provisions for ‘dangerous’ offenders. However, due to his 2005 sentence, Holland will be on licence for the rest of his life.