WHILE traumatised raid victim Laura Jones struggled to cope with flashbacks and nightmares of evil Scott Brown thrusting a gun into her face, threatening to shoot if she did not cooperate, the armed raider was tucked up in his cell, penning his victim a

WHILE traumatised raid victim Laura Jones struggled to cope with flashbacks and nightmares of evil Scott Brown thrusting a gun into her face, threatening to shoot if she did not cooperate, the armed raider was tucked up in his cell, penning his victim a self-pitying letter begging for forgiveness.

When Miss Jones wondered if her life would ever be the same again following the two minutes where Brown burst into Tesco Express, in Rolle Street, Exmouth, guilty armed raider Brown was pleading with her to excuse his actions.

The 21-year-old, from North Street, penned the self-indulgent A4 letter from his cell while on remand for holding up the 20-year-cashier at gunpoint in January - when he burst into the Rolle Street Tesco Express where she worked, brandishing a gun and demanding money.

Full of self-pity, Brown appeals for Miss Jones not to show him any sympathy for what he put her through.

He blamed the armed raid - where he forced shop manager Colin Stevens to his knees and held a gun to Miss Jones's head, demanding she fill a bag with cash from the tills - on his past, saying he had been through 'bad times'.

Miss Jones, from Budleigh Salterton, this week dismissed Brown's written apology, saying the remorseful letter was irrelevant.

"I don't think much of the letter. It doesn't mean anything to me. Whether it makes him feel better, I don't know," she said. "He said it was a mistake and he had been through bad times but I can never justify what he did."

The Journal understands in his handwritten letter to Miss Jones, Brown begs 'please don't feel sorry for me', before going on to say:

* He never intended to hurt her

* He hoped she was okay after he made her fear for her life

* He was 'really sorry' for what he put her through

* He would have been 'upset' if someone had put his mother or sister through the same ordeal.