Knifeman jailed for robbing shop to get cash for his birthday

A MAN who held a shop assistant at knifepoint before stealing £100 from the till because he wanted money for his birthday has been jailed.

Jason Cooke was sentenced to three-and-a-half years at the Crown Court in Londonderry yesterday.

Cooke (24) committed the robbery at the Spar Shop at Coolessan Walk in Limavady just before closing time on August 22, 2015.

The hold-up took place three days before his birthday and he told police he had carried out the robbery because he had no money for his birthday.

A barrister for the Public Prosecution Service told Judge Philip Babington that only the shop supervisor and a female assistant were present when Cooke, with his hoodie up and with a scarf over his chin, entered the premises.

He was armed and went over to the till and tapped the knife on the counter.

He waved it in the face of the supervisor and shouted at him to put money from the cash register into a plastic bag.

The supervisor put five money bags, each containing £20, into the plastic bag and Cooke walked out.

The supervisor called the police and several minutes later officers arrived.

The supervisor told them he knew Cooke and had served him earlier in the day.

His assistant said she too knew Cooke, as she had gone to school with him and he was a regular customer.

Cooke was arrested 20 minutes later at a property in nearby Gorteen Crescent.

He was wearing clothes similar to those worn by the robber and the police found a knife and money bags.

He was shown CCTV footage of the theft but denied the person on the footage was him.

Cooke, who had 41 previous convictions, eventually admitted his guilt after he had been picked out of an identification line-up bythesupervisor.

He told the police during his admissions that he wanted the money for his birthday.

Judge Babington said at the time of the theft Cooke was homeless, as he had been put out of the family home by his parents because of his constant substance abuse.

He said this premeditated crime was an escalation in Cooke’s offending.

He added that Cooke had been assessed as presenting a high risk of reoffending.

The judge said robberies of this type had a serious impact,

“Robbery is a very serious offence, particularly robberies involving small convenience stores, of which there are many in this jurisdiction,” he said.

“The public rely on them and their staff deserve to be protected. It is quite clear this man was mixing with the wrong crowd.”

Cooke will serve half of the sentence in custody and half on licence.

❝ Robbery is a serious offence, particularly robberies involving small convenience stores