A PROLIFIC offender once dubbed Britain’s worst burglar has been jailed for up to 12 years after robbing a high street petrol station and a string of other raids.

Michael Lebon, aged 49, of Stanley Terrace, Gloucester, held up staff at knifepoint at the Applegreen petrol station in the centre of Cinderford on a Sunday afternoon, after carrying out two other robberies the same day in Gloucester and Twyning near Tewkesbury.

Lebon had recently served jail time after police found him lying with a broken arm and other injuries following a botched sports shop burglary in 2017 where he had fallen 20ft into a loading basement.

Appearing at Gloucester Crown Court last week (Tuesday, November 26), he admitted five charges of robbery and one of attempted robbery, and was told he was being jailed for eight years with a four-year licence extension.

That means that after his release he can be recalled to jail at any time up to the end of 12 years if he reoffends.

The court heard that Lebon raided the Cinderford petrol station around 2.40pm on July 28 and threatened the “frightened” male till assistant behind the counter, pushing the point of a knife into his back and ordering him to open the till.

The raider seized around £200 in cash and grabbed £300 worth of cigarettes before making his escape.

But he didn’t escape justice for long, as police soon found him hiding under a pile of clothes on the back seat of a car they stopped.

Earlier that day, the court heard, Lebon had carried out similar terrifying knife raids at McDonald’s on Bristol Road in Gloucester and Twyning Village Stores.

Entering the fast food restaurant shortly after 6am he grabbed a man around the neck and ordered shocked onlookers to follow him to the till where he told a member of staff to fill a bag with money.

Still holding the man and waving the knife, he then ordered the employee to show him the safe where he seized £450 in cash before fleeing.

Not satisfied with that haul, less than four hours later Lebon launched another raid 20 miles away on the Twyning village shop, which was only manned by a woman cashier.

Pretending to buy a bottle of cider, he then forced the till open and grabbed £360 in cash from the shopworker before rushing out and then making for Cinderford 28 miles away.

The court heard he had also carried out a robbery at Aldi on Clifton Road in Gloucester on Wednesday, July 3, where he held a knife to a cashier’s face before grabbing £500 from the till, and threatened another worker and customers before fleeing on a bike.

Lebon, who has 123 previous convictions including for robbery, was described as a ‘dangerous’ man by Judge Ian Lawrie QC.

Det Con Shona Flet-cher of Gloucestershire Police said: “Lebon’s sentencing will enable all affected to have some closure and the sentence given will hopefully highlight the seriousness in which offences of this nature are seen, and will hopefully act as a deterrent to others.”

Another man who was charged in connection with the July 28 offences is due to appear in court later this month.