An axe-wielding robber who stormed a sports club and snatched more than £20,000 in a terrifying Bonfire Night raid has had his jail sentence increased.
Dean Wilkinson and an unknown accomplice threatened employees with axes in the female changing rooms at Blue Flames in Benton , North Tyneside , following a fireworks display.
The female employees - one of whom was eight months pregnant - were counting the night's takings at about 10pm when the robbers grabbed the bundles of notes.
Wilkinson was detained by a security guard after he and his accomplice were chased into a nearby housing estate.
The 28-year-old pleaded guilty to robbery and was locked up for three years at Newcastle Crown Court in January.
But after a hearing at the Court of Appeal in London on Thursday, the axe-wielding robber's sentence was increased to four years and six months.
Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General Robert Buckland QC MP said: “Wilkinson’s offence is one that has had a profoundly damaging effect on his victims, not just in the sense of the stolen money but also the psychological pain he inflicted upon those he threatened – including a pregnant woman.
"Given the violent and intimidating nature of his crime, it is absolutely the right decision that he spent a longer time behind bars.”
Newcastle Crown Court heard Wilkinson and his accomplice snatched £21,610 on the night of November 5 last year before fleeing the scene.
Money scattered into the road as the pair were chased into the nearby housing estate.
One of them made a run for it and the security guard lost him but on returning to the bushes, he found Wilkinson still there and detained him until police arrived.
The court heard £13,470 of the stolen money was recovered.
Wilkinson, 28, of no fixed address, had 72 previous convictions, including robbery offences in 2007.
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