Shop raider made stab threats then apologised
A SHOP worker was left terrified for her life when a knifewielding robber threatened to stab her.
The woman was working alone behind the counter of a store with a Post Office counter when Shaun Hodgson came in acting suspiciously.
A court heard he went to the cash machine of the Lifestyle Express shop in Swalwell, Gateshead, on January 6 this year and “fumbled” around before approaching the till.
Rachel Glover, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court: “The complainant asked if he had lost his card and he mumbled a response.
“He then pulled out a knife and pointed it towards her and slurred ‘empty everything or I will come round there and stab you.’ She started filling a bag with cash and he then pointed at the till of the Post Office and said ‘that as well because it hasn’t been emptied today.’
“He also asked for cigarettes and vodka to be put in the bag.”
After getting what he wanted he then said to the petrified victim: “Can I say sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you, I’m in a bad place”.
He then “stumbled” out of the shop with a total of £2,200 of cash, cigarettes and vodka.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said: “I’ve always been a confident and bubbly person but I’ve struggled to be like my old self since this and my confidence has gone.
“After this first happened I was terrified and couldn’t leave my house and I struggled to go to work because I feared it would happen again.
“I was unable to sleep for weeks due to the thought of what would have happened if I acted differently. I would think of my daughter sitting at home waiting for me to return and I think what if I didn’t get home and what if he seriously harmed me or even killed me. At that moment I feared for my life.”
Hodgson, 26, formerly of Clavering Road, Swalwell, near the shop, but latterly of South Shields, pleaded guilty to robbery and having the 10-inch blade and was jailed for 40 months.