A serial bank robber who was literally caught red handed by an off duty policewoman and her partner has been jailed indefinitely.

James Reilly's hands were covered in security dye after he robbed the Royal Bank of Scotland in Castle Square, Brighton.

PC Andrea Leahy saw him drop a £50 note with red dye on it as smoke from a security device began to drift out of Reilly's jacket pocket as he waited for a bus nearby.

She and partner Elizabeth Lovekin, a fraud investigator with American Express, held on to Reilly until armed police arrived minutes later.

A judge yesterday praised their bravery saying they acted despite not knowing if Reilly was armed or not.

An Argus reader captured on camera his arrest and the moment he was led away with red dye clearly visible on his hands.

Reilly,46, was caught on March 4 after staging his third bank raid in just ten days using the same tactics.

He walked into banks in London on February 22 and February 27, and handed terrified cashiers notes demanding money.

Reilly ordered them not to slip security devices into the bundles of notes they handed over.

He then told them to give him back the note he had written to avoid being identified through his writing or fingerprints.

He gave the cashier at the Brighton bank a business card with a note on the back saying: "I am armed to £3k."

But the cashier at first thought he was deaf and asked him to write down what he wanted.

She realised what was happening when Reilly shouted: "Just give me the money now," Hove Crown Court heard.

Gabby Henty, prosecuting said: "The cashier panicked and he became aggressive, putting his hand in his jacket pocket, as if there was something in there."

He ordered her to hand over £2,000 and as she did shouted: "If there is any dye in it I will come back and shoot you."

Reilly tried to flee but found his escape route blocked because the bank's doors had been locked.

He ordered staff to open them before he walked out into Old Steine where he was spotted by PC Leahy and Miss Lovekin.

Mrs Henty said: "He was becoming covered in red smoke and PC Leahy saw red dye on a £50 note he had dropped."

The officer and her partner grabbed Reilly and held onto him until armed colleagues arrived.

Reilly, 46, was jailed for six years in 2003 for three similar robberies but was released on Home Office licence in March 2007.

He was also given four years for a robbery in Glasgow in 1997.

Reilly, from Wandsworth, London, pleaded guilty to staging the robberies in London and Brighton earlier this year.

Anthony Loader, defending, said Reilly is a Jekyll and Hyde character who turns to crime when he had been drinking.

Mr Loader said Reilly "deeply regretted" the trauma he had caused the bank cashiers.

Judge Guy Anthony ruled that Reilly is a danger to the public and jailed him indefinitely.

He said that had he passed a determinate sentence Reilly would have been jailed for nine years.

Reilly will now not be considered for release for at least four years and will not then be set free until the Home Secretary considers it is safe to allow him out.

Judge Anthony said: "Whilst the method you used might not be the most sophisticated it is clearly quite effective.

"You go in, pretend to be armed and scare the cashiers into handing over money.

"You are sufficiently sophisticated that you make sure if you can that no dye is included in the notes handed over.

"If there was, as turned out to be your undoing, it would become apparent from the smoke emitted that you have carried out a bank robbery."

He added that PC Leahy and her partner should be recognised for their bravery.

Judge Anthony said: ìI cannot let this pass without commenting on the bravery of Andrea Leahy and her partner Elizabeth Lovekin who was not a law enforcement officer.

"Both showed considerable bravery in apprehending a man who might very well have been armed and who had clearly just committed a bank robbery.

"The chances he was armed with one sort of weapon or another were high."

He said PC Leahy should be considered for a Chief Constable's commendation for bravery and that Miss Lovekin should be awarded £250 from public funds.

Detective Constable Simon Dunn, who led the investigation, welcomed the sentence and the judge's recommendations.

He said: "Sussex Police are satisfied with the sentence. Reilly is a danger to the public and more specifically to bank clerks and employees.

"If you work in a bank your biggest fear is that someone like him will come in and attempt to rob you.

"PC Leahy is obviously a police officer but her partner is an ordinary member of the public.

"Without their actions this case would not have been resolved as quickly as it was."