Ex-pharmacist tried to rob chippy
A FORMER pharmacist tried to rob a shopkeeper in a Huddersfield fish shop to get money to buy drugs.
Adeel Aslam was jailed for a year and eight months after taking an ‘extremely’ large knife into Nook Fishery and threatening a member of staff.
The incident at the shop on New Hey Road in Salendine Nook happened in the daytime on May 19 this year.
Leeds Crown Court heard the shopkeeper walked away from Aslam and he left the shop emptyhanded.
But when a female officer found him and tried to arrest him, the 35-year-old father-of-one resisted arrest and assaulted her.
He picked her up and threw her to the ground, causing injury.
Prosecutor Joanne Shepherd said two members of staff quit after the incident because they were scared for their safety.
Aslam, of Lindley Moor Road, Huddersfield, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery, possession of a bladed article in a public place and assaulting an emergency worker.
He has one previous conviction for an unrelated matter.
The court heard Aslam was unable to cope after he was promoted to manager at the pharmacy where he worked and became addicted to prescription and illegal drugs.
Gerald Hendron, mitigating, said his client had been prescribed diazepam for anxiety but was also using cocaine.
The barrister said Aslam stopped working in March 2019 and was let go again nine months later and then his wife left the family home with their baby.
The court was told Aslam’s family paid for him to go to a rehabilitation centre but he relapsed.
Mr Hendron said: “It was two months into lockdown when this offence took place. He was living within a busy household.
“The anxiety got worse, he used more drugs and had used the last of his savings.
“This offence took place days after his wife told him they were divorced through an Islamic divorce.”
Mr Hendron said Aslam is ashamed of himself for assaulting the police officer.
Speaking about the attempted robbery, Judge Geoffrey Marson QC said: “It cannot be overstated how terrifying such an incident would be. Simply producing the knife is enough to instil great fear.”
Aslam’s twin brother attended the sentencing hearing.