A thief who has been on the run for four years after stealing £5000 at knifepoint from a Pitsea bingo hall has finally been caught and jailed for five years.
The Gala Bingo Hall situated in The Broadway in Pitsea, was originally robbed on March 15, 2025. Lynton King and his accomplice Leroy Hippolyte burst into the hall wearing crash helmets and yellow rubber gloves whereby King then threatened to stab the staff with a knife in their backs if they didn’t open the safe.
Hippolyte, who was 30 at the time, was caught after his DNA and fingerprints were found on a crash helmet, a pair of rubber gloves, a hoodie and a motorcycle which had been dumped in Grays, Essex. At Basildon Crown Court in April 2025, Hippolyte admitted the offence and was jailed for four years.
King, who was arrested in March 2025 failed to answer his bail and then went on the run. He was finally arrested in April this year by the Metropolitan Police over an unrelated offence and was handed over to police officers from Basildon.
After a trial at Basildon Crown Court, King was found guilty of robbery and failing to surrender to custody and was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment.
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