A violent criminal responsible for two robberies West Cumbria before he was arrested in Carlisle has been jailed for 18 years.

Mark Mercer, 47, left his victims traumatised.

He staged a gunpoint robbery at Maryport Post Office on January 25, just a few days after robbing a young woman in a Whitehaven Street.

He was arrested in the Lanes shopping centre in Carlisle the day after the Maryport robbery.

He still had the imitation revolver he used in the raid with him.

The defendant, of Toll Bar Houses, Distington, admitted two robberies, three handbag thefts and possessing a firearm when prohibited, and with Intent to cause fear. He also pleaded guilty to handling a stolen car and making off in it from a Carlisle petrol station without paying for his fuel.

He will only be released when the Parole Board consider he is safe to be released and he will also serve an extended five year licence period.

Detective Constable Hayley Carson said after the case: “We are pleased that justice has been served and that Mercer is going to prison.

“Mercer was a bully and a thug who targeted lone women to steal from.

"His actions at the post office were shocking as he held a held a revolver towards an elderly woman who bravely stood up to him.

"Unfortunately she has since died but I would like to praise her for the bravery she had shown that day.

"She continued that bravery by helping with our investigation and this praise is also warranted to Mercer’s other victims who helped put this man behind bars.

“Mercer was a danger to society and west Cumbria is a safer place for his imprisonment.”