I'm not the man who robbed Newport bank, accused tells jury
A convicted man who was on the run from prison has told jurors he was not the gunman filmed on CCTV holding up a Shropshire branch of the Britannia bank.
Convicted armed robber Martin Dawson, who absconded from Sudbury open prison five days before the raid in Newport, also denied a "carbon copy" robbery of the Britannia in Macclesfield.
Dawson, who has been ill in hospital for most of his trial, attended Stafford Crown Court yesterday to give evidence.
He said that although he was on the run from prison and wanted by the police, he did not rob either branch.
Under cross-examination from prosecutor Miss Cathlyn Orchard, Dawson said he could not recall where he was on June 29 last year, the day of the Newport robbery.
He added: "It was a very confused time. It's not for me to provide where I was, it's for the police to provide where I was."
Footage of the Newport raid was shown to Dawson and Miss Orchard asked him whether he could spot any differences between him and the man in the film.
He replied: "I would say the man you highlight is taller than me and broader across the chest and shoulders. I don't think the images are clear enough."
Miss Orchard said: "Two days after the robbery you are buying yourself a motorcycle for £2,900. Had you been using crime to make money while on the run?"
Dawson replied: "I'm not going to answer that."
He said he had stayed with "friends" for the first few days he was on the run, but later rented rooms in Stoke-on-Trent.
He was shown CCTV footage from the Macclesfield robbery from August 29 last year and asked to comment.
He said: "That individual had a similar build to me and that's as far as it goes. I don't think the image is clear enough."
He said that at the time of the robbery he was on his own in his room in Stoke-on-Trent: "I wasn't at Macclesfield that day. I had nothing to hide over that robbery at Macclesfield."
The ex-soldier admitted buying a realistic-looking silver BB handgun which was found in his possessions after his arrest last October and that he liked to carry a gun around. But he said he only used it for target practice, shooting at trees in woods.
Dawson, 51, of no fixed address denies three charges of robbery and two of possessing an imitation firearm.
The trial continues.
