Sentence expected as 'Skull Cracker' pleads guilty

The serial armed robber dubbed the "Skull Cracker" is awaiting his sentence after pleading guilty to three new offences.

Michael Wheatley, 55, was granted day release from serving a life sentence in Kent on May 3 but failed to return, instead raiding the Chelsea Building Society in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey.

He was arrested in Tower Hamlets, east London, and today pleaded guilty to robbery, possession of a firearm, or imitation firearm, while committing an offence and being unlawfully at large.

Lionel Blackman, defending, asked Judge Christopher Critchlow, the Recorder of Guildford, to pass sentence today once CCTV footage of the robbery is obtained.

Wheatley's alleged accomplice, Kevin Perry, 53, of West India Dock Road, east London, was also charged with assisting an offender, perverting the course of justice and handling stolen goods.