A croupier who carried out a £75,000 armed robbery at a Birmingham casino and was later caught in an armed swoop involving a packed inter-city train has been jailed for nine years.

South African born Dudille Nkabinde later claimed that the majority of the cash he had taken from Stanley Casino at Star City had been stolen from him by prostitutes in London.

But this was rejected by Judge Alistair McCreath who recommended he should be deported and said the offence he had committed involved a considerable sum of money and was of "considerable gravity".

Nkabinde, (34), of Alum Rock Road, Alum Rock, pleaded guilty to charges of robbery and having a firearm with intent.

Alan Parker, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, said about a month before committing the robbery Nkabinde, who had worked at Stanley Casino for 18 months, asked another croupier whether he could obtain a gun for him.

The shocked colleague refused to help, but on March 6 this year during a count of the previous night's takings in a secure area, Nkabinde produced a gun before forcing other workers into a vault and shutting them in.

He then gathered a total of £75,890 and fled. His victims were released from their ordeal about half an hour later.

Mr Parker said although Nkabinde later claimed he had carried out the robbery under some kind of duress he sent a text message to a friend indicating he had acted out of a sense of grievance because of his treatment at the casino.

Over the course of the next few days Nkabinde travelled to the North and London. He was arrested at Euston Station by armed officers after the train from Manchester he had been on was held up for 47 minutes under the pretence of signalling difficulties to allow officers to assemble.

Mr Parker said although some of the stolen cash was recovered almost £53,000 remained outstanding.

John Femiole, defending, said Nkabinde needed the cash to pay off a loan shark in South Africa and that a substantial part of the haul had been taken by two women the defendant had met in a nightclub.