The shopkeeper fought off Bethan John and Jessie Thompson with a plastic milk crate
Two masked and hooded women raided a corner shop with a knife and demanded money from the lone member of staff, a court has heard.
The shopkeeper grabbed a plastic milk crate to defend himself from Bethan John and Jessie Thompson who subsequently fled empty-handed, discarding the knife in a hedge as they made off. When the pair were located by police they told the officer they had been planning to hand themselves in after the weekend.
Sending them down, a judge at Swansea Crown Court said the courts would always act to protect vulnerable shop workers.
Brian Simpson, prosecuting, told the court that, shortly before noon on Friday, July 11, this year, John and Thompson entered the Pil Corner Stores in Milford Haven with the hoods of their coats up and their faces covered by bandanas.
He said the shopkeeper did not know the names of the women but recognised them as having been in the store previously.
The prosecutor said that, based on the pair’s demeanour and appearance, the shopkeeper concluded they were “up to no good”.
The court heard that Thompson produced a large knife from under her coat and pointed it at the shop worker, with both women then demanding he hand over all the money.
The prosecutor said the shopkeeper pushed the knife away then picked up a plastic milkcrate to defend himself and began swinging it at the intruders.
The court heard the defendants fled from the premises empty-handed, and the police were called. Officers carried out a search of the area and found the coats the would-be robbers had been wearing discarded in a nearby alley.
The prosecutor said the incident was publicised on social media and Johnson was identified by a tattoo on her hand. The information was passed to police and the pair arrested the day after the raid at a house in Hawthorne Close, Milford Haven.
The defendants told officers they had intended to hand themselves in on Monday as they didn’t want to be arrested over the weekend, and they also told police where they had discarded the knife. The weapon was subsequently recovered.
In a statement read to the court by the prosecution barrister, the victim said it was difficult to put into words the level of fear and anxiety the incident had caused.
He said he had been left feeling scared whenever people entered the shop but said he had to keep on working. For the latest court stories sign up to our crime newsletter
Jessie Thompson, aged 31, of Plas Peregrine, Steynton, Milford Haven, and 25-year-old Bethan John, of Howarth Close, Milford Haven, had both previously pleaded guilty to attempted robbery when they appeared in the dock for sentencing.
Thompson had also previously pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article.
Thompson has six previous convictions for eight offences including theft from a person – when she had taken money from someone she was looking after as a carer – and being concerned in the supply of cocaine from September last year for which she was given a suspended sentence which was subsequently activated in-part in January this year.
She was released on licence from that sentence in May.
John has no previous convictions
Dan Griffiths, for Thompson, said the driver of the defendant’s offending was drug addiction, something which had “blighted most, if not all, of her adult life”.
He said after being released from the drug trafficking offence in May the defendant had “almost immediately” relapsed into abusing drugs and funding that habit “became her only focus” without any thought to the impact of her actions on others.
Stuart John, for John, said the defendant’s mother had been a user of drugs and alcohol and he said his client had “always been around drugs”.
He said following issues in his client’s personal life her mental health had deteriorated and her drug use had escalated which had resulted in the very serious incident the court had heard about.
Judge Paul Thomas KC said the defendants had committed a very serious offence, and said courts would always protect vulnerable shopkeepers.
With one-quarter discounts for their guilty pleas, Thompson was sentenced to 40 months in prison and John to 36 months.
The defendants will each serve up to half their sentences in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community
Speaking after the sentencing, Dyfed-Powys Police detective constable Dean Chilcott said: “This shop has persistently been targeted by criminals, while the owners and workers are just trying to do their jobs in providing a service for the local community.
“They should never be made to feel fearful for their safety while at work, or be in a position of having to defend themselves from violence.
“I hope this sentence serves as a message that we have taken – and will continue to take – robust action against those responsible for appalling incidents of this kind.”
