Three bottles of vodka and four years jail for armed robber
An armed robber who escaped with three bottles of vodka from a convenience store has been jailed for nearly five years.
Nathan Hinds had his face covered and was holding either a knife or screwdriver when he strode into the shop in Chapel Street, Blakenall, late at night on March 7, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
The 25-year-old ordered Jerathinam Jeshree to had over ‘all the money in the till,’ explained Mr Martin Liddiard, prosecuting.
At first the startled shopkeeper thought he was joking but quickly realised that was not the case as the defendant started moving the weapon in a stabbing motion.
As Hinds grabbed the bottles of vodka Mr Jeshree closed the store’s shutters by activating the remote control which he had in his pocket, continued Mr Liddiard.
Hinds realised he was locked in as he turned to escape and threatened to kill the shop keeper if he did not let him go, letting his mask slip as he berated the man.
Mr Jeshree relented and raised the shutters.
He was so alarmed by the robber’s threats it took him two days to pluck up the courage to report the robbery to police.
The officer sent to investigate took one look at CCTV film of the incident and immediately recognised the culprit as Hinds, who had nine previous conviction involving 19 separate offences and was on licence following his early release from a jail term imposed for a string of burglaries.
He was traced and arrested during the early hours of July 11 and Mr Christopher Gorman, defending, revealed: “He has no explanation for why he committed this offence.
“It was not for drug money and is entirely inconsistent with his previous convictions, all of which involve neither robbery nor violence.
"He wants to grow up and have a family but this is not the way to achieve that.”
Hinds from Newholme Way, Blakenall pleaded guilty to robbery and was sent to prison by Judge Amjad Nawaz for four years, nine months.
The judge told him: "You no doubt disguised yourself because this shop was local and you had probably been in it before.
"Convenience shops are easy prey because those behind the counter do not know what is in the minds of people who walk in off the street.
"It must have been quite a frightening experience for the shop keeper when you tried to coerce him into letting you go."
