Drug man wrested cash from shop assistant’s till

A CARDIFF man on holiday in Tenby forcibly stole money from a cash register after distracting the supermarket assistant by asking her to change his coins.

Daniel Luker carried out a burglary at Londis store in the Pembrokeshire town on July 29 when he approached 21-year-old shop assistant Ella Hartley at the till.

The 36-year-old, of Marlborough Road in Roath, Cardiff, asked her if she would change 83p of coins for him but urged her to carry on serving waiting customers in the meantime.

When she went to hand the coins to him he leaned over and made a grab for £5 notes in the till, stealing £165 in the process, Swansea Crown Court heard.

Miss Hartley attempted to prevent him from taking the notes but he outmuscled her, the court was told.

Police looked at CCTV of the incident and Luker was later located at a hotel, where he was believed to be intoxicated.

A victim statement from Miss Hartley detailed that she had worked in Londis for two years, with it being her first job.

She said: “I’m very worried and concerned [people] might try to steal from the till in future.

“I didn’t realise it could affect me like it has.”

Two days earlier, on July 27, Luker had entered Jago in Tudor Square in Tenby and took a Superdry jacket worth £54 from a display in the shop window.

He was seen doing so and police were called. They found the sale tag outside the store and later tracked down Luker, who had the jacket.

He was interviewed the following day and gave a no-comment interview but later pleaded guilty to counts of theft and burglary.

Mitigating, Lee Davies said: “The defendant’s life has been plagued with addiction, particularly alcohol. He met some men and took drugs with them that day.He says he is very sorry.”

Luker was jailed for a total of 32 weeks.