A former England footballer who turned to armed robbery after racking up gambling debts from a habit he picked up in the top flight has been jailed for 15 years.
Nathan Ashton, 29, who played Premiership football on the wing for Fulham before moving to Crystal Palace and Charlton targeted betting shops across London and the South East.
Along with former Scottish Premier League player Ohmar Pike, the pair netted nearly £15,000 from eight raids.
In one raid, a cashier “fell to his knees and had a panic attack and begged for his life”, a court heard.
A robber then put a gun to the back of his head and said: “I’m going to blow your head off, if you don’t open the safe”.
Ashton, who made 20 appearances for England teams from under-16 to under-19 level, developed a gambling habit as a footballer.
But, following a rape allegation – for which he was later acquitted – he “lost his livelihood”, and his debts spiralled out of control, apparently reaching £100,000 last August.
He started robbing betting shops after a friend suggested it was an easy way to raise cash, Kingston Crown Court heard.
Ashton carried out two robberies alone in February last year, and carried out eight raids with former Gretna FC player Pike, 27, between May and October 2015.
Father-of-two Pike, who played for the Scottish club for 18 months before the they went into administration in 2008, became involved after he fell into debt.
