A ONE in fifty million DNA sample trapped the man who robbed £10,000 from the manager of Greenbridge's Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Sri Lanka-born Gajamugan Poobalasingham, 24, of no fixed abode, was caught after surgical gloves were found near the Covingham Post Office where KFC manager Swapan Kumar Roy was robbed by an intruder with an imitation firearm on May 30, 2000.

The DNA gleaned from the gloves matched that of drug addict Poobalasingham, who is serving a four-year sentence at Wandsworth Prison for a similar robbery in Kingston two months after the Swindon heist.

After a hearing at Swindon Crown Court, Det Sgt Adrian Davis, who led the investigation, hailed the lucky breakthrough as remarkable.

Mr Roy's assistant had accompanied him to deposit the cash when two "suspicious looking" men closed in on their car. One appeared at the driver's window pointing a gun while the other grabbed Mr Roy around the neck and seized the bag of cash sitting between his legs.

As they ran off Mr Roy gave chase, but froze after Poobalasingham turned and pointed a fake firearm at him.

Alan Meeke, prosecuting, told the court: "Since the robbery Mr Roy has been very shocked and scared.

"He has suffered nightmares because he realised what could have happened to him he thought he was going to be shot.

"He had started to get over his fears, but when the police contacted him again they all came back."

Alex Bailin, defending, told the court that heroin-user Poobalasingham had arrived in this country at the age of 13 having witnessed "appalling violence" that included seeing his father shot by terrorists when he was 12.

He told the court that Poobalasingham was an educated and well-qualified man who, when approached by friends, had succumbed to the "quick fix" the robberies would offer his spiralling drug debts.

Judge John McNaught said Poobalasingham was playing for "high stakes" and could only expect a sentence that reflected the seriousness of his crimes.

He said he would have sentenced Poobalasingham to seven years had he been considering the case on its own, but added a further four years to the sentence he is currently serving.