A JUDGE today locked up a weapon-wielding robber indefinitely after ruling he was a serious risk to shop-workers and people on the streets.

One-time football starlet Norman Dickson was told he will be released only when parole board officials are convinced he is no longer a danger to the public.

Judge Tony Briggs passed the Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence after hearing Dickson robbed a man when armed with a meat cleaver.

Teesside Crown Court heard how Dickson had served a three-year sentence for robbery in the past and had been given a suspended sentence last March for theft.

But just three months later, the 23-year-old went on a crime spree around Hartlepool which included a further robbery, possessing a bladed article, and eight thefts.

In mid-June, he stole from four shops, including the 24-hour shop in Raby Road, a Bells store twice in the same day, and the Lifestyle shop in Hart Lane.

On July 25, Dickson approached a man drinking in a field and demanded money from him, but when his 38-year-old victim refused the pair decided to fight.

Ms Jacobs said victim Raymond Buckle put down his jacket as they squared up, but Dickson swerved past him, picked up his clothing and ran off with £300 from the pocket.

Just a week earlier, Dickson demanded money from Daniel Stevens in Duke Street, but when the 20-year-old refused, his assailant pulled a meat cleaver from his trousers and threatened him.

Dickson admitted the four shop thefts and a theft from a person when he appeared before magistrates and asked for three others as well as a handling offence to be taken into account.

The jobless drug-addict, of Bridgepool Close, Hartlepool, was found guilty of the robbery, snatching £80 from Mr Stevens and possessing a bladed article after a trial.

His barrister, Chris Morrison, argued that Dickson had never physically harmed any of his victims and urged the judge to impose a fixed-tariff sentence.

But the judge told Dickson: "It seems to me you do pose a considerable risk to members of the public, particularly if any of your victims are minded to resist you with any degree of seriousness."

Mr Morrison told the court that Dickson was a promising footballer who had been on the books of Newcastle United and Hartlepool United as a youngster, but got involved in drugs when his career did not take off.