A TEENAGER, who robbed a shop with three friends, was up before a judge last week - and set a new record for speedy justice.

James Draper, aged 18, was sentenced at Croydon Crown Court just seven days after being committed for trial by Bromley Magistrates.

It normally takes three or four months before a case comes to trial, but the new Crime and Disorder Act allows for defendants to be dealt with far more quickly.

Draper opted to be dealt with on the spot - and received three and-a-half years youth detention after pleading guilty to robbing the Alldays store, in High Street, St Mary Cray, last September.

Draper and three other teenagers, all wearing woolly hats to cover their faces, went into the shop as the assistants were about to close.

One of the youths was armed with a golf club and he used it to smash bottles in a display cabinet.

Draper and another youth jumped over the counter and Draper used a screwdriver to force the till drawer open. They escaped by car but were caught on camera and Draper was recognised by police.

Draper, of Northview, Swanley, denied all knowledge of the raid until police showed him the video, but he refused to name his accomplices.

Judge Michael Devonshire said: "It must have been alarming for the staff and others in the shop."

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