AN ARMED robber has admitted using a dirty needle to threaten staff at two shops in Colchester.

Prolific offender Jason Aldis first entered a pharmacy one day, and a newsagent the next, brandishing the needle in order to steal.

The unemployed 31-year-old stole a quantity of prescription drugs and other goods.

Aldis, of Berberis Walk, Colchester, appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday to admit two counts of robbery and five of possession with intent to supply illegal drugs.

The court heard he entered Boots Pharmacy, in Tamarisk Way, Greenstead, armed with the hypodermic needle and left with a variety of controlled medication on April 22.

He admitted stealing a range of mind-altering class B and C drugs, including Diazapam, Quazepam, Gabapentin and Pregabalin.

The next day Aldis entered Martins newsagents at the Fivefields Centre, in Greenstead, just after 7.10am.

He threatened staff before stealing cash, tobacco, e-cigarettes and confectionary.

After Aldis admitted the offences, Judge Patricia Lynch QC asked for a pre-sentence report to be carried out, including a psychiatric evaluation.

Speaking via videolink from Chelmsford prison, Aldis said he suffered with ADHD and OCD, and heard voices “telling him to do stuff”.

He was remanded in custody until the week commencing Monday, July 3.

The raids took place weeks after a previous suspended sentence was finished.

Last February, Aldis avoided jail after threatening the dad of murdered teenager Jay Whiston with a knife.

Wielding a 10in blade, the thug walked in to Cash In Hand, in Queen Street, Colchester, where Stafford Whiston, the father of tragic Jay, 17, was behind the counter.

Mr Whiston picked up a chair and put it between him and Aldis, who continued making threats, including telling him he would come back for him.

As Aldis left the premises, he smashed a display cabinet by the main door, causing £700 damage, and took a £225 laptop computer.

This was the second time Aldis had targeted the shop, with the robber jailed for 14 days on December 23, 2015.

After the theft of the laptop, Aldis was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

He will be sentenced in July for the latest raids.