Man who robbed bank with banana gets jail sentence

Vonderdell eventually managed to leave with £1,200 in cash, while the concealed item was later revealed to be a banana.

By ALEX WINSTON
The banana was concealed under a plastic bag (photo credit: PEXELS)
The banana was concealed under a plastic bag
(photo credit: PEXELS)
A man in southern England who tried to get a quick fix for cash slipped on the proverbial banana peel this week, as he was sentenced to jail time after being arrested robbing a bank with a (whole) banana.
Fifty-year-old Laurence James Vonderdell of Bournemouth, England, walked into the local branch of Barclay's bank in March and demanded the money, before attempting to turn himself into police when the alarm was raised.

CCTV footage shown to the court showed Vonderdell pacing outside the bank with a concealed item inside an orange plastic bag before entering and demanding the cashier hand over the money.
Vonderdell eventually managed to leave with £1,200 in cash, while the concealed item was later revealed to be a banana.
After leaving, he approached a police car in the vicinity and admitted his crime and asked to be arrested, but according to defense attorney Anne-Marie Garvie, “They refused to do that and told him to go to the local police station. He then walked several miles to hand himself in.”
Vonderdell was sentenced to a 14-month sentence at Bournemouth Crown Court on Monday, June 17, after admitting to robbery and possessing an imitation firearm.