A robber has been jailed for life after he held up a Sussex jewellery shop with an imitation pistol.

Lloyd Thomas, 26, formerly of Hamsey, Lewes, will serve a minimum of three years for pointing a deactivated pistol at shop manager Ashley Pugh and demanding a Rolex watch worth £3,350.

Sentencing him at Lewes Crown Court yesterday, Judge Brown described him as "a significant danger to the public".

He said: "Shopkeepers are very vulnerable to this sort of attack and they are entitled to any type of protection the court can offer them."

In July, Thomas pleaded guilty to robbery and carrying an imitation firearm.

He committed the offence while in the 'at risk' period of an earlier conviction for robbing a jeweller's shop in London while in possession of an imitation firearm. The robbery was committed with two accomplices.

Thomas was released from prison in 1999.

Tina Davey, prosecuting, said Thomas had visited Bruford jeweller's, Cornfield Road, Eastbourne, the day before the robbery, in March this year, and had tried on a watch.

She said: "He left the premises and arrived again the next day.

"While another customer came in, Mr Pugh, the manager, was temporarily distracted. Thomas was holding a pistol by his waist.

"Thomas said to him, 'Give me the gold one', referring to the Rolex."

Mr Pugh refused to hand it over and followed Thomas out of the shop. He took down his car registration and told the police.

Thomas was arrested later that day by officers who found him in possession of the imitation firearm.

Julian Dale, defending, said Thomas had stolen the watch to secure a deposit on a flat for himself, his girlfriend and her children.

He said: "Although I accept the psychological effect of the imitation firearm, it was a bluff and no one was at risk of being injured."

Sally Freeman-Thomas, who previously lived with Thomas, met him when he was in prison for an earlier offence and her listening group treated him.

When he was released he lived with her for two years in Lewes.

She said: "I feel responsible for this. He found out I had become quite ill. I had a diagnosis of cancer and his foster mother died of cancer.

"I lost touch with him for a while then heard about this. He is not a danger at all. He went in knowing what he was doing and knowing that it was the only thing he could do."