Pub staff feared attack in convicted killer robbery
Northumbria PolicePub staff feared they would be attacked with a broken pint glass when a convicted killer robbed their bar, a court has heard.
Thomas Brand, 52, brandished the smashed pint glass at two workers before he ran off with an empty till from a pub in Sunderland in July, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
He was found a short while later hiding in a bush.
Brand, whose 163 previous offences included manslaughter and conspiracy to murder, admitted robbery. He was jailed for four years and four months.
The robber, from Roker, had a balaclava covering the bottom half of his face when he went into the William Jameson in Sunderland at about 22:20 BST on 4 July and demanded a barmaid empty the tills and give him money, prosecutor Neil Pallister said.
When the woman said she was not able to open the tills, he escorted her to an office behind the bar where the pub's manager was counting that day's takings, the court heard.
Without realising the cash was all in the office, Brand ordered the man to empty the tills, which the manager refused to do, the court heard.
'Dangerous man'
Brand grabbed a pint glass and smashed it against the bar, before brandishing it towards the manager and barmaid and saying he would stab and kill them if they did not give him money, Pallister said.
The manager later said he "feared for [his] life" while the barmaid said it was "terrifying" and she "honestly thought he was going to hurt us", the court heard.
Brand then pulled a till from a shelf and ran away with it, but was found a short while later hiding face down in a bush by police, the court heard.
The court heard Brand had 163 offences on his criminal record dating back to 1987 including several for robbery.
In 2003 he was jailed for 12 years for conspiracy to commit murder and in July 2019 for a six-year sentence for manslaughter, the court heard.
His latest robbery put him in a breach of a suspended sentence imposed for the burglary of another pub in Sunderland in July 2025, Pallister said.
Recorder Georgina Nolan said Brand was a "dangerous man" who posed a high risk of serious harm to the public.
Brand will have to serve a further two years on extended licence upon his release from prison, the judge said.
