A deaf man who terrorised a neighbourhood for three weeks by carrying out armed robberies has had a four-year prison term confirmed on appeal.

The 52-year-old man, who cannot be named by court order, used to wear a balaclava but was finally unmasked by a hairdresser whom he had tried to rob.

The hairdresser, Patrizio Parascandalo, 33, was nicknamed Batman by his wife Katia after he jumped to the protection of customers and a 12-year-old boy in his salon.

It turned out that the gun carried by the aggressor was made of plastic.

The man admitted to stealing about €1,300 from two pharmacies, a green grocer, an underwear shop and Mr Parascandalo’s hair salon between December 18, 2010 and January 14, 2011.

In a judgment handed down yesterday, Mr Justice Michael Mallia said he could not censure the magistrate who gave out the original judgment as it had been calculated correctly.

Furthermore, the fact that the man was deaf had also been factored into the punishment.