'ELFMAN' ROBBER JAILED FOR TWO YEARS; Knicker thief's 'life is in tatters'.

Byline: By ALAN ERWIN 

A LAB technician who dressed as a "female elf" to steal lingerie at knifepoint was jailed for two years yesterday.

Robert Boyd wore a blonde wig, glasses and hat to hold up a female staff member at a lingerie store. The 45-year-old claimed he was involved in a futuristic fantasy role-playing game at the time of the robbery in December 2005.

But although a defence lawyer pleaded for leniency by telling how Boyd was now a figure of ridicule whose life was in tatters, Judge Patrick Lynch insisted he had to be imprisoned.

He also sentenced the father of one to a further two years probation after his release.

At Belfast Crown Court, Judge Lynch told Boyd: "Whatever I do to you today you will have to live with the consequences of your actions for the rest of your life."

Boyd was convicted in March by a 10-2 majority verdict after claiming during his trial that he had blurred the lines between reality and make-believe as he assumed a character called Buho.

The court was told this was a shaman, or magical elf, called Buho who carries a small Japanese sword as a weapon in the Shadowrun game.

He was found guilty of stealing two sets of bras, knickers, suspender belts and stockings worth pounds 250 from Orchid Lingerie on the Lisburn Road in South Belfast.

He had claimed to have been facing pressures at work and within his marriage when he threatened the woman after haggling for a discount.

Before sentence was passed yesterday a lawyer for Boyd, of Broadlands, Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, revealed he has since lost his job at Queen's University Belfast.

Anthony Cinnamond QC stressed that he had been carrying pounds 400 when he went to the shop to buy lingerie as his wife's Christmas gift.

The lawyer said: "It's most unlikely that Mr Boyd carried out this robbery for financial gain. "It's much more likely on the basis of medical evidence that his motivation came from some twisted thoughts in the darker recess of his mind, perhaps because of his involvement in the role-playing Shadowrun game."

Mr Cinnamond told how his client had been suffering from depression at the time, referring to the sexual abuse he said Boyd had suffered as a teenager.

It was claimed his state of mind had also been affected by the discovery, just months earlier, that one of his relatives had also been subjected to similar abuse.

Mr Cinnamond told how Boyd's family would have to sell their home and move as a result of the publicity surrounding the case.

He said: "Instead of being a man of good standing in the community he has become a figure of fun, derision and ridicule which must be very galling to a man who has hauled himself up by his own bootstraps.

"Unfortunately, the public knowledge of this case has led to his totally innocent wife also being lampooned about this in public."

The lawyer questioned whether Boyd would ever be employable again within his profession. He added: "His life is now completely ruined."

But Judge Lynch insisted the courts must protect any small shops threatened by armed robbers.

He told Boyd: "You went to the shop the day before similarly in disguise. This was not simply succumbing to a temporary aberration.

"For reasons you haven't tried to explain, you brought a knife with you from the laboratory."

Judge Lynch also cast doubt over Boyd claiming during his trial that he remembered nothing about the robbery yet was able to recollect the events when interviewed shortly after his arrest.

He added: "I strongly suspect this was simply an avoidance strategy on your part."

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ROBBER: Robert Boyd yesterday