In an unusual step the robber Martin Kaczmarek directly addressed a judge at Leeds Crown Court, saying: "I am trying to figure out exactly what is wrong. There's something drastically wrong to walk out and commit this amount of offences."

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Described in court as an "intelligent and articulate" man, Kaczmarek had robbed in the past to fund a crack cocaine habit but this latest crime spree was not for drugs.

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Instead he said he gave some money to sellers of the Big Issue – a magazine which help the homeless – because "it made me feel better at that precise time".

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The court heard that between June and September, Kaczmarek admitted three robberies and one attempted robbery on shops in Leeds. He asked for a further 15 similar robberies to be taken into consideration – many of them involved weapons.

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At 5.40pm on June 21, he went into Subway on Boar Lane shouting at staff to open the till.

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Kaczmarek swung a punch at one staff member before marching him towards the till, saying he had a knife. The alarm was raised, prompting Kaczmarek to flee before throwing a chair which hit the staff member.

At 6.50pm, wearing a hood and scarf over his face, he targeted Nisa on Cavendish Street where he forced the women shopkeepers to open the tills and fled with £1,000.

Four days later, he targeted Sainsbury's in Ash Road, Headingley, while armed with a kitchen knife with a four to six inch blade.

He threatened a staff member who opened the till and Kaczmarek fled with £150.

On July 9, he went to Ainsleys bakery on Bond Street where he grabbed up to £300 after threatening staff with a craft knife.

The court heard that Kaczmarek, of Spen Green, Hawksworth, had served two jail terms for robberies in the past – including one of nine years.

Kaczmarek told Judge Christoper Batty: "The reason for committing the crimes is I cannot cope outside. I don't know what to do. I try to get help by speaking to psychiatrists but there's waiting lists and things I cannot do anything about. I tried to speak to my family but I could not do it."

The judge remanded Kaczmarek in custody, and adjourned sentencing until January for psychiatric reports.