The irony is almost too much and we’re sure it hasn’t been lost on Martin Reilly who has recently been jailed for a minimum of 12 years for robbing bookmakers whilst dressed in fancy dress outfits, including The King himself, Elvis Presley. Mr Reilly, convicted for a life sentence for robberies of bookies in the Northampton, Bedfordshire, Brighton, Hove, Eastbourne, Woking, Surrey, Portsmouth, Hampshire, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex and west London areas, will be able to sing ‘Jailhouse Rock’ to his hearts content.
His keen appreciation of fancy dress became his trademark, disguising his scarred features from his victims, who he held at gun point and locked in kitchens, toilets and cupboards whilst robbing them of their takings. Mr Reilly had been released from prison in 2005, serving a previous life sentence for similar crimes. These latest criminal activities across the counties netted him over £23,000 and left his victims mentally terrorised.
His outfits served a dual purpose – as a general disguise to hide his recognisable features and also, as a method of intimidation to induce further fear in the poor people he terrorised.It was recognised in Court that none of his victims had suffered any physical injury as a result of his robberies, however the mental scaring and psychological damage he caused was noted as being significant, with some of his victims still suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.
Reilly’s attacks were carried out last year between the months of June and October, when he was finally arrested in Hereford. His wigs, hats, scare masks and other fancy dress props obviously gave him further opportunity to terrorise his victims and it is thought that he revelled in this, although he was adamant in Court that he ‘Never hurt anybody’ and that there ‘is no need for this’. Mr Reilly, we beg to differ – you belong in gaol!