A MAN handed a bank worker a note demanding money saying a bomb would go off if she triggered an alarm, a court heard.

Tomasz Wegiel, 25, is charged with the attempted robbery of Lloyds Bank in Braintree on September 26 last year and the attempt- ed robbery of Barclays Bank on October 3 last year.

He is also charged with a robbery at Ladbrokes in Braintree, on October 20, last year, and threatening another person with an article with blade or point on the same date.

Wegiel, of Templeton Court, Braintree, denies the four charges.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard Wegiel approached a staff member at Lloyds Bank, Bank Street, Braintree, on September 26, and handed over a note demanding money.

In a statement read out in court on Tuesday, Christine Donaldson said her “blood ran cold” when she was handed the note.

She said: “At 9am the doors opened and a few customers came in. My attention was drawn to a man who was walking quite fast.”

She said he was wearing a black jacket zipped up and was wearing a hat so she could only see a “letterbox” section of his face.

She said: “He leant across my desk and pushed across an A4 piece of lined paper. The man then said to act normally and don’t touch the alarms.

“A sense of shock ran right through me – I looked at the note, which was written in red pen.

“I remember reading the words ‘give me £1,000, my parents are in trouble’ and the word ‘bomb’. My blood ran cold and I felt real fear.”

After going out the back she notified a colleague who called the police.

The jury was told the man left the bank without taking anything before the police arrived.

Patrick Dennis, prosecuting, told the court the cases were influenced by a “gambling addiction”.

He said the note handed over to Lloyds said “a bomb would go off ” if the alarms were sounded.

The court heard Wegiel later targeted Barclays in Bank Street on October 3.

Sandra Moore, a customer adviser at Barclays, in a statement to the jury, said he had handed over a note which said: “I am armed, I need £2,000 fast. No alarms otherwise I will start shooting.”

She asked a customer to call the police, but the man had left the bank.

Wegiel was also charged with the robbery of Ladbrokes in Bank Street on October 20, where £2,348 was handed over.

Mr Dennis told the jury money from the robbery had been used to pay back Wegiel’s landlady at the time.

He said: “At about 10.10pm the sole cashier was about to close.

“A male came in brandishing a knife demanding money, wearing a balaclava and holding a drawstring bag. The robber then attempted to leave through the front door with the money, but was prevented from doing so as a good Samaritan in the pub opposite held the door shut.

“He then removed his balaclava and demanded if there was another way out and fled out of the back of the shop.”

The trial continues.