Service fee for thick robber

Peterborough, Canada - Banks are always charging fees. Even, apparently, to people who are trying to rob them.

Christopher Emmorey, 23, discovered that the hard way when he walked into the Royal Bank on George Street March 22 demanding that the teller give him $5,000 and telling her he had a gun in his pocket.

The fiscally responsible teller told Emmorey she could only give him $200, and told Emmorey there would be a $5 transaction fee because Emmorey was not a client at the bank.

Emmorey pleaded guilty yesterday in Ontario Court of Justice to the robbery plus breaching his probation. Crown attorney Brian Gilkinson said Emmorey waited patiently as the teller filled out the appropriate paper work before running out of the bank with $195.

By that time, other bank tellers were alerted to the ongoing robbery.

Emmorey wasn't wearing a disguise and his videotaped image was recognized by police officers who responded to the call.
When officers arrived at Emmorey's Stewart Street apartment they overheard him asking his neighbours to tell police that he'd been home all day, court heard.

Emmorey's lawyer Dave McFadden described the robbery as a "comedy of errors" and something that was "doomed to fail at the outset."

"A $5 transaction fee on a robbery sir?" McFadden said to Mr. Justice Robert Graydon.

Emmorey's criminal resume includes previous convictions for attempted robbery, weapons offences and violence. Graydon gave Emmorey two years in prison for the crime, plus probation for two years.

Emmorey told Graydon he has no significant drug or alcohol issues and said he wouldn't need any court-ordered addiction counselling.

"You must think by now that there's something wrong with you," Graydon said to Emmorey. "Is this normal in your mind?"

"No sir," Emmorey replied.

Graydon also banned him from owning any weapons for 10 years.