Cross-dressing ‘killer clown’ jailed for raiding Co-op store, attacking staff and stealing cigarettes

A CLOWN in a flowery dress who attacked staff in a supermarket raid has been jailed for 20 months.

Thomas Prodger disguised himself in the bright outfit, which included a clown mask, to pull off the heist at a Co-op.

The man even attacked a worker at the County Durham supermarket before making off with nine boxes of cigarettes.

Footage from the supermarket caught the man in the act, showing him wearing long flowery dress and gloves.

His terrifying clown mask was reminiscent of many other sightings that swept the UK.

The man, of Jubilee Terrace, Middleton-in-Teesdale was sentenced to 20 months in jail after pleading guilty to September 21 robbery at Durham Crown Court on Friday.

He was also slapped with a restraining order - including not being able to enter the Co-op he targeted in the raid.

The killer phenomenon began with people in clown masks scaring and threatening people in several US states – with one even holding up a series of fast food restaurants at gunpoint.

But the terrifying figures were also spotted on all corners of the British Isles.

There have been sightings in England, Scotland, Wales – and even outside the UK in Ireland.

But some stories are more sinister than others, with the horror movie characters brandishing deadly weapons or chasing people through secluded areas in the dead of night.

A mum-of-two told how a pair of clowns armed with machetes jumped onto her car bonnet and terrified her kids when she stopped at traffic lights in Manchester.

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