A MAN said to have had hopes of a coaching career at Rangers is behind bars for his role in a string of cash box raids.

Patrick Nisbet was involved in a £25,000 robbery at a Clydesdale Bank in Baillieston, Glasgow, in the early hours of December 27, 2019.

The 30-year-old was snared along with two associates a week later as they staked out another planned theft.

Nisbet pleaded guilty to charges of robbery and attempted robbery at the High Court in Glasgow.

His lawyer Victoria Young told the hearing: "He was training to be a football coach at Rangers Football Club and he lost that job.

"He is single and now unemployed. He realises there is nothing that can be said to justify his involvement in these offences."

Judge Andrew Cubie jailed Nisbet, of the city's Carntyne, for a total of six years and three months.

The court heard how two security guards had gone to the Clydesdale branch to deliver cash.

Glasgow Times:

They were then confronted by a hooded raider, who demanded: "Drop the box."

Nisbet then ran in with his face covered and grabbed the container with the money inside.

Prosecutor Kath Harper said: "The two then emptied the cash box before entering a waiting silver Ford Focus which made off."

The court heard DNA later linked Nisbet to the crime.

Co-accused Jason McLaren, 28, and Andrew Pyke, 26, also pleaded guilty to their involvement in other raids.

A security worker was making a cash drop at a TSB in the city's Duke Street on January 3 2020 when McLaren struck.

But, he and an accomplice failed to get the hands on the £25,000 delivery.

Pyke meantime left an incriminating palm print during a similar crime at a post office in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire on December 15, 2019.

He and another individual escaped with £20,000.

The trio were all caught on January 4, 2020 during the probe into the robberies.

Police were suspicious of those inside a Volkswagen Golf parked close to where a security worker was delivering cash in the city's St Vincent Street.

It eventually lead to a high-speed chase with armed officers and a police helicopter keeping tabs on the suspects.

They were eventually snared hiding in a bin chute room at a tower block in Glasgow's Cranhill.

McLaren, of the city's Garthamlock, was jailed for seven years and three months after he admitted two charges of attempted robbery and another of dangerous driving.

Pyke, of Glasgow's Shettleston, was locked up for four years and four months for pleading guilty to robbery and attempted robbery.

Judge Andrew Cubie told the trio: "There was a degree of planning and organisation for logistics in the execution of the crimes."