Bank raiders face jail

It was meant to go like clockwork and net the two men tens of thousands of pounds in cash.

But the raid on an HSBC Bank, just yards from Buckingham Palace, ended in farce and brought central London to a standstill.

Lookout Michel Clayton was arrested at the door by a suspicious security guard before the raid even started.

And minutes later quick-thinking cashiers trapped gunman Shane Perry behind a security screen as armed police descended on the bank in Victoria.

Today, as the duo face prison sentences, this bank security picture captures the dramatic moment when Perry realised he was trapped.

Desperate to escape, he hurls himself at the screen before throwing a computer at it. But police are already there and he is arrested. Buckingham Palace Road had been cordoned off, causing gridlock in the West End for two hours.

When police lifted the security barrier to arrest Perry, he was found trying to escape up the ventilation chute with more than £30,000 stuffed in his trousers.

Perry, 20, from Tulse Hill, and Clayton, 18, of no fixed address, have both admitted robbery and are due to be sentenced at Harrow Crown Court today. The drama started when Perry and Clayton arrived at the bank at noon on 5 December as a Securicor van delivered credit cards.

Clayton stood by the main door to keep watch but a Securicor guard got suspicious and made a citizens' arrest, aided by a number of shoppers.

Perry, unaware that the plan had been rumbled, dashed in and told cashiers he had a gun. When they refused to hand over money, he vaulted over the counter.

But one cashier managed to close the screen and, with two colleagues, they barricaded themselves in a side room.

As Perry tried to escape through the chute, armed police broke in and arrested him. Despite his claims, Perry was unarmed.