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A man who robbed a fast-food restaurant and demanded chicken nuggets had to accept “breakfast food” instead because it was too early.
Rudi Batten, 22, raided a McDonald’s in Bristol in the United Kingdom at around 7 a.m. on Feb. 8, Bristol Post reported yesterday, April 29.
Aside from demanding chicken nuggets, however, the Bristol Crown Court heard yesterday details of Batten’s crimes that led to store staff being traumatized.
He reportedly first stole £50 from the cash register and held a pistol – which turned out to be an unloaded airsoft pellet gun – to the store manager’s head and asked him to open the store’s safe.
Batten got a red tin with £250 in cash and two bags containing £100 each as well as a bag of coins, according to the report. He then asked the manager for some chicken nuggets, but got double sausage McMuffin instead as they were only serving breakfast food at the time.
Just the day before, he robbed another store for cash and got to flee with some fried chicken. He was caught on CCTV on both occasions.
Batten has since been sentenced to six years in prison for the crimes, as ruled by Judge William Hart yesterday.
“The staff were clearly terrified as anyone would be,” the judge was quoted as saying. “It’s the last thing people would expect in a quiet takeaway in that part of the country.”
“A chilling aspect of that robbery is the way the gun was held. It’s clear the impact this sort of offending has. There was considerable alarm in the community,” he added.
Some of the staff have since been suffering from the trauma caused by Batten’s actions, according to victims’ statements read in court.
“Any interaction with a customer makes me really tense, on edge and panicky. There have been times when I haven’t been sleeping,” one victim was quoted as saying.
On the same day of the McDonald’s robbery, just before 3 p.m., Batten surrendered to the police, the report said. He was quoted as saying, “I’m being forced into doing this. I don’t want to do this.”
Batten’s lawyer said the man’s crimes were carried out in order for him to pay debts after getting involved in drugs. She also noted that Batten committed the crimes out of fear for the safety of his family.
“He is utterly ashamed and embarrassed,” the lawyer was quoted as saying. “He is horrified he behaved in this way. He is deeply, deeply sorry he committed these offenses.” Ian Biong /ra
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