A ROBBERY suspect accused of a masked raid on a shop has been cleared – because he is too tall to be the culprit.

Ian Parrish was described in court as a towering 6ft 6in in his shoes – but witnesses insisted the robber involved in the raid was between 5ft 7in and 5ft 9in.

Two experts called in to study images of the suspect ruled the robber could not possibly have been Parrish, who was 6ft 4in without shoes.

Prosecuting, Craig Lowe told Hull Crown Court Parrish was suspected of being one of two men who carried out a robbery at Hainton News, Grimsby, on September 5.

Their faces were covered with hoods.

Two witnesses picked out Parrish, 40, of Hainton Avenue, Grimsby, at an identity parade.

He was later charged that, jointly with an unknown man, he robbed the shop of a till tray, £101 cash, electric tokens and a mobile phone top-up card.

He was also charged with jointly robbing Tracy Probert of a handbag containing a purse, £20 cash and bank cards, and having a knife without good reason.

But Mr Lowe said a report about Parrish's height seemed to show that because he was 6ft 6in in his shoes, he was too tall to be the suspect.

"Despite two people picking him out on an identity parade, the report appears to say that it can't physically be this defendant," said Mr Lowe.

Because Parrish strongly denied the robbery allegations, his solicitors, Roy Foreman & Co, commissioned an expert's report, which is thought to have used CCTV image clips, linked with measurements at the shop and comparisons with Parrish's height.

The prosecution is thought to have obtained a report of its own, to check the defence findings, including visiting the shop.

Mr Lowe offered no evidence on the charges.

Parrish had been due to face a trial shortly.

Defence barrister Simon Hirst said: "Two experts have made it plain that it can't be this man.

"Witnesses described the robber as being 5ft 7in, 5ft 8in or 5ft 9in.

"It may be one of those cases where a genuinely innocent man has been in custody.

"He has spent 10 months in custody, very concerned about these matters, which he may be very genuinely innocent of."

Parrish was jailed for 23 months for an unrelated offence of attempting to supply heroin, but, because he had spent 287 days in custody, was expected to be released shortly.

REGULAR criminal Ian Parrish posted heroin to his girlfriend while she was in prison, the court heard.

Craig Lowe, prosecuting, said Jill Moore was in New Hall Prison, Wakefield, in October 2007.

She was Parrish's girlfriend at the time.

He posted her a parcel, containing items including a writing pad.

Officers checked it to make sure there were no drugs or weapons and, while flicking through the pages, found two pages stuck together with a brown substance, found to be 0.193g of heroin.

The next day, Parrish sent a letter saying: "Did you get the rest of the stuff?"

Police went to Parrish's home. Moore, who had been released, was there.

Simon Hirst, mitigating, said Parrish accepted that what he did was stupid.

Miss Moore had been a drug addict and she put Parrish under pressure to send the drugs in to prison, claimed Mr Hirst.

Judge David Tremberg told Parrish: "You are really getting too old to find yourself before the courts for serious offending.

"You are a prolific offender with previous convictions for dishonesty, violence and the possession of drugs.

"Anybody who is involved in Class A drug distribution at any level can expect to be dealt with harshly by the courts because Class A drugs wreck lives.

"When you compound that by trying to send drugs in to prison, it only makes it worse."