A blundering robber who threatened to shoot his victim over a pair of trainers has avoided jail.

Christopher Porter put his hand into his pocket shouting: “I’ve got a gun - do you want your shoes or a nine millimetre?”

But Jordan Collins noticed Porter’s skinny trouser pockets were, in fact, too small for a firearm and called his bluff.

“If you’re going to shoot me then shoot me - I’m going home,” he said, then wandered off leaving Porter screaming abuse.

Porter, 50, was handed a suspended sentence at Canterbury Crown Court for attempted robbery.

The absurd exchange unfolded when Porter accosted Mr Collins near Broadstairs’ Westwood Cross shopping centre at 11pm in December 2018.

Porter became enraged after pestering Mr Collins for a cigarette, who explained he wasn’t a smoker.

"Your victim was a brave and robust individual who refused to give into your demands..."

He then placed his hands on Mr Collins and ordered he removed his rings and trainers. Mr Collins walked off.

Porter then caught up and threatened to shoot him.

“Mr Collins could see the defendant had his hand in his pocket, but thought the pocket looked small and had no gun in it,” prosecutor Vivian Walters explained.

The court heard he replied: “If you’re going to shoot me just shoot me - I’m going home.”

Porter was arrested six months later after being wanted by police. He denied attempted robbery but pleaded guilty on the opening day of a trial earlier this year at the same court.

Mr Collins told the court he battled anxiety after the ordeal.

Judge Catherine Brown labelled him “brave and robust”, adding the confrontation could have been much worse.

“It was described accurately in the pre-sentence report as targeted, predatory and financially motivated,” she said.

“Fortunately your victim was a brave and robust individual who refused to give into your demands and dealt with you in a way that was brave given the threats you were making.”

Porter’s lawyer said he was remorseful and had since turned his life around.

She added: “When one looks at the overall view of this case it was entirely unsophisticated, committed by words alone, those words were nothing more than a hollow threat. It was so hollow it was not believed by the victim at the time.

Citing his personal mitigation and pressures on the justice system mid-pandemic, Judge Brown handed Porter, of Yoakley Square in Margate, two years custody suspended for two years, 25 rehabilitation days and 100 hours of unpaid work.

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