A BOURNEMOUTH man has pleaded guilty to making off with £16,000 in a late night robbery.

Carl Moring, 44, was the getaway driver in a cash-in-transit robbery outside the Nationwide building society, in Christchurch High Street.

Despite police appeals following the drama, Moring’s accomplice has never been traced.

Moring, of Cecil Road, was due to stand trial for robbery at Bournemouth Crown Court yesterday but changed his plea when faced with fresh forensic evidence.

His fingerprints were found in a getaway car used to flee the scene on January 19, when two security guards from G4S Cash Solutions were allegedly threatened with tools and robbed of a cash box.

The guards were left shaken but uninjured in the incident, which happened at 11.10pm.

A description was released of a white male robber of slim build, possibly in his late 20s and six foot two inches tall.

Robert Grey, defending, said: “We have never been clear what role the prosecution were assigning to the defendant.

“From DVDs of CCTV footage it is plain to us that the robber is not the defendant. He is 45 and five foot four.”

Judge Peter Johnson said: “But presumably he was aware that he had been a getaway driver to a robbery in the middle of the night in Christchurch.”

The case was adjourned for pre-sentence reports until Friday, June 22.

Judge Johnson added: “Morling will certainly get some credit for his guilty plea at this stage but it will be nothing like the credit he would have got at his plea and case management hearing.”

Neighbouring businesses in Christchurch spoke of their shock following the robbery.

A member of the public who saw the direction the robbers made off in helped police find a car in Southbourne Road.

The missing cash box was later recovered.