A GETAWAY driver has been jailed for life for his part in an armed bank robbery which terrified staff and customers.

Kenneth Lumsden had denied being involved in the hold-up of the Halifax branch in Church Lane, Chalfont St Peter, but a jury at Aylesbury Crown Court took less than 90 minutes to find him guilty last Friday.

Lumsden, of Cedar Drive, Hillingdon, claimed that that he would never have taken part in the crime because he knew he faced a mandatory life sentence if caught because of previous convictions.

Just six months before the Chalfont St Peter raid, Lumsden had been released from an 11-year prison sentence for attempted robbery and two other robberies.

But the jury rejected this defence, concluding a nine-day trial during which bank staff were forced to relive the nightmare of the robbery.

The 45-year-old was convicted on charges that with two unknown men he robbed staff at the bank of £5,500 and some cheques, and that he was in possession of an imitation hand gun at the time of the robbery on January 21 last year.

Lumsden continued to deny the charges despite DNA and clothes fibres linking him to the crime scene. He also claimed police had planted evidence.

Prosecutor Benjamin Gumpert told the court that Lumsden was the only one of the three men to be caught. He was arrested an hour after the robbery in Joiner's Lane, Chalfont St Peter, close to where the getaway car was abandoned.

He showed no reaction when the jury of seven women and five men returned their unanimous guilty verdict.

During the trial, staff recalled how two masked men, one brandishing a gun, burst into the bank, leapt over the counter and stole cash and cheques before making off in an E-registered Vauxhall Astra.

The car was abandoned in Joiner's Lane after being chased by a police car. Most of the stolen haul was recovered from the car and the surrounding area. as

Police linked Lumsden to the car through DNA evidence and matching fibres found in the vehicle to his clothing.

A mobile phone which Lumsden had on him also contained the number of a pub at Hillingdon where the Astra had been sold.

Judge David Morton Jack imposed a life sentence and ordered Lumsden to serve three years of an outstanding term. He recommended Lumsden should serve a minimum of six years before parole was considered.