Man laughs off gunman

An American man laughed when a robber pointed a gun at his head because he thought it was a practical joke.

Robert Wood, 61, defied the criminal who was robbing Eastern Bank in Peabody, Boston, because a friend had played a trick on him in the same place a couple of months earlier, in which they put their fingers to his head pretending to be a gunman.

However, when the businessman realised he was face to face with a real gun he still refused to hand over the $200 dollars he had just withdrawn.

He said: "He shoved me down past the teller's window. Then he threw his bag at me and said: 'Put your money in there'. I threw the bag back at him. I said: 'I ain't giving you my money.' "

The gunman escaped with nearly $22,000 but was later arrested and charged with armed robbery.