A robber who held up a third bank after gambling away $200,000 in loot from two other raids was jailed for 11 years yesterday. Wong Wai-kit, 26, earlier pleaded guilty to the three bank robberies, which had netted him more than $250,000. Prosecutor Peter Power told the Court of First Instance that Wong struck on September 4 last year at the Standard Chartered Bank in Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, when he entered the bank carrying an imitation pistol. After the first teller he confronted fled, Wong then pointed the fake pistol at another staff member saying: 'Take out the money. Be quick. Be quick.' Three other tellers also handed over money and Wong escaped with $100,837, along with about $18,000 in foreign currency. He struck again with an imitation pistol on October 16 - this time targeting the Standard Chartered Bank in Leighton Road, Causeway Bay. He netted $98,220. After gambling away the money, Wong carried out a third raid - also with an imitation pistol - on the Bank of America in Humphreys Avenue, Tsim Sha Tsui. Security guard Liu Kwong-nam witnessed the hold-up and grabbed Wong by the neck when he tried to leave the bank. After a brief struggle Wong broke free but was again caught by Mr Liu. With the help of passers-by Wong was subdued until police arrived. The $50,740 Wong stole from the bank was recovered. Mr Power said Wong admitted the three robberies to police, saying he was driven to crime because he had been jobless for months. He said Wong also told them he had gambled away the cash he stole in the first two robberies. After taking into account Wong's early guilty plea, Madam Justice Clare-Marie Beeson imposed a 12-year sentence for each robbery charge. She also took into account that without Wong's admission concerning the two earlier bank robberies they would have gone unsolved, and subtracted one year from each count. The sentences are to run concurrently, leaving a total of 11 years.
