A heroin addict who robbed his local Sayers bakery at knifepoint was jailed for more than four and a half years.
Lee Fairclough, 45, entered the store in County Road, Walton – where he was a regular customer – wielding a 9ins kitchen knife.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how Fairclough robbed the shop, just around the corner from his home in Dane Street, to fund a £50 to £100 a day drug habit.
Paul Blasbery, prosecuting, said Rodney Nickson was working alone at around 2.30pm on August 21 this year, while a colleague was taking a break.
He said a plastic screen door which protects staff from members of the public had not been shut properly.
Fairclough, who was instantly recognised by Mr Nickson, pushed his way through the door, pointed the knife towards his victim and said “open the till”.
Mr Blasbery said Fairclough held the knife close to Mr Nickson’s stomach and added: “Unless you want this in your side, open the till.”
Mr Nickson pretended he did not know how to but after more threats he became scared and opened the till, allowing Fairclough to grab £125 and run away.
The court heard police received several anonymous tip-offs and arrested him after he was spotted entering a house.
When arrested Fairclough claimed he had not produced a knife, but later admitted robbery and possession of an offensive weapon.
The defendant’s 14 previous convictions for 29 offences include three robberies.
In 1997 he and another man raided a service station in Stanley Road, Bootle, vaulting a counter, making threats and taking £300.
Also that year he struck at a filling station in Brewster Street, Bootle with two others.
A female worker was confronted by a man with a knife before the contents of a safe were stolen.
In 2003, he robbed a man’s CD player at knifepoint and threatened to cut him if he called police.
Desmond Lennon, defending, said his client now “unreservedly” accepted responsibility and apologised to Mr Nickson, adding: “He is sorry and ashamed.”
He said Fairclough was homeless and his life had been blighted by drugs, but he was trying to seek help for his addiction in prison.
Judge Alan Conrad, QC, prosecuting, said Fairclough’s offending was aggravated by his past convictions for robbery.
He said: “You subjected a shopkeeper to a terrifying ordeal.”
Judge Conrad sentenced Fairclough to four years and eight months behind bars.
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/