A ROBBER threatened to “peel off” the skin of a betting shop assistant’s face with acid if he did not give him money, a court heard.

The warning was among the contents of a note Matthew Philip Haymer handed to the lone male assistant at a time no other customers were present at the Coral city centre premises, in Durham, at about 5.30pm, on August 1.

Durham Crown Court was told Haymer was carrying a lemonade bottle containing liquid, but it was not clear if those contents were acid.

The hand-written piece of paper passed to the assistant read: “This is a robbery. Empty your tills and the safe, and you won’t be hurt.

“This bottle contains acid and a wrong move, it will peel your face off. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Haymer was duly handed £138.29 from the till by the assistant before leaving the Saddler Street bookies.

But, acting on cctv footage from the shop and surrounding area, he was identified and arrested the next day.

Appearing via video link from nearby Durham Prison, Haymer, 27, of Coniscliffe Road, Darlington, admitted a charge of robbery.

Chris Baker, prosecuting, said the court would need to consider if it was an “unsophisticated commercial robbery” or, “something more sophisticated”, when it comes to sentence.

“But, it’s a man who isn’t disguised, going into a bookies and waits until no-one else is there, before presenting the note, while holding a bottle, which hasn’t been recovered, so we can’t say what was in it.”

Judge Christopher Prince said it appeared to have been a planned commercial robbery, to which Mr Baker said: “Clearly there was an element of planning.”

But, Richard Herrmann, for Haymer, said: “Our position is this is a million miles away from being a planned commercial robbery.

“It’s absolutely, fairly and squarely, a less significant commercial robbery, having had discussions earlier with the Crown’s representative.”

Judge Prince agreed to adjourn sentence until September 21 to allow preparation of a Probation Service background report on Haymer.

Agreeing to set aside 45 minutes for representations as to where the offence sits in the sentencing guidelines, the judge warned Haymer that whatever the outcome, “custody is inevitable” in the case.