'Skullcracker' Admits Robbing Building Society

Michael Wheatley - nicknamed "Skullcracker" - has admitted robbing a Surrey building society while on the run from an open prison.

Wheatley, 55, was arrested in Tower Hamlets after raiding a branch of the Chelsea Building Society in Sunbury-on-Thames in May.
He had been serving a life sentence at Standford Hill prison on the Isle of Sheppy, Kent, when he was granted day release and failed to return on May 3.
Appearing via a video link from Belmarsh Prison, Wheatley pleaded guilty to guilty to robbery, possession of a firearm, or imitation firearm, while committing an offence and being unlawfully at large.
His solicitor urged Judge Christopher Critchlow at Guildford Crown Court to pass sentence on Wheatley once CCTV footage of the robbery had been viewed.
Wheatley was detained on a street corner in Tower Hamlets in east London hours after the robbery took place.
A second man, Kevin Perry, 53, from east London, was charged with assisting an offender, perverting the course of justice and handling stolen goods.
Perry did not enter any please and was remanded in custory until July 18.