An armed robber has been jailed for a crime he committed six years ago after new DNA evidence came to light.

Craig Alexander, of Roydon Court, Mayfield Road, Walton, was jailed for three-and-a-half years yesterday after pleading guilty to armed robbery at Guildford Crown Court.

The 26-year-old NHS project manager admitted robbing the Tesco Express store in West Byfleet on October 12, 2001.

He was linked to the robbery following his arrest last September on an unrelated matter.

A DNA sample taken at the time of Alexander's arrest was linked to fingerprints found on a firearm dumped near the scene of the robbery.

Further tests were carried out on clothing receovered from the scene, including a stocking which had been used as a mask. Saliva on the stocking was matched to Alexander.

The court heard Alexander used the handgun to threaten two cashiers when he committed the robbery in 2001.

He ordered them to hand over cash and pointed the weapon at a number of customers ordering them to leave the store.

He got away with £1,140 cash and cheques to the value of £89.97 which were later recovered.

Judge Crocker, sentencing, said he had taken into account the fear of the shoppers in the store at the time, and felt a custodial sentence was the only punishment.

D Con West said: "This case demonstrates the importance of DNA and forensic evidence which can successfully identify offenders with an offence which may have happened years ago.

"Surrey Police had exhausted all leads back in 2001 and the crime was unsolved when this evidence suddenly came to light.

"Had we not had this opportunity to match the profile, the case would have remained unsolved."