A KNIFE wielding robber from Widnes who stole hundreds of pounds in raids on three garages in as many days has been caged for more than five years.
Graham Anthony Toole, 39, of Lacey Street, Widnes, was sentenced at Warrington Crown Court on Monday, November 23.
Judge Neil Flewitt QC sentenced Toole to five years and eight months imprisonment for three counts of robbery and another three counts of possession of a bladed article. The sentence also included 16 weeks imprisonment which had previously been handed to Toole for a count of battery.
The court heard from Kim Egerton, prosecuting, that the three ‘knifepoint robberies’ took place at three separate garages in July this year.
Ms Egerton said that the first incident took place on Monday, July 6, at Bristol Street Motors on Moor Lane in Widnes and that two staff members were working at the time of the incident after 3am.
The prosecution added that one of the staff members noticed the defendant standing at the counter and was dressed in black with his face covered. Ms Egerton said that Toole pointed the knife towards the victim and was ‘waving it from side to side’ as he demanded money from the till and she handed over £10 and £20 notes.
The contents of a second till were also demanded by Toole who took about £340 during the incident the prosecution added, but marks left by the defendant at the scene matched trainers found at his address when he was arrested two days later.
The prosecution said that the second incident took place the following day at the Murco garage on Liverpool Road in Warrington at about 10pm.
In this incident, Ms Egerton said that Toole came around a counter after entering the garage with a ‘large knife’ and raised it to ‘head height’ and demanded to a staff member that the till be opened, with £565 taken during the second armed robbery.
The prosecution said: “The knife was being pointed directly at him and the money was then taken from the till.”
The final robbery took place at the Ace Of Hearts filling station on Warrington Road in Bold Heath on Wednesday, July 8, when Toole brandished a knife at a man who was working there and handed over about £200 after he demanded that the till be opened, Ms Egerton said.
The defendant also demanded cigarettes which were put into a carrier bag, but Ms Egerton said that a woman who was passing the garage saw Toole with his face covered and took a picture on her phone of his vehicle’s registration number.
Police later searched Toole’s home address and found ‘several amounts of cash and some cigarettes’, while the defendant made ‘no comment’ in interview with officers after his arrest.
CCTV footage of all three robberies was played in court by the prosecution and showed Toole dressed in black with his face covered pointing a knife at his victims as he demanded cash.
The defendant had 12 previous convictions from 21 offences, including four years imprisonment in January 2008 for attempted robbery when he pushed an elderly lady to the floor and tried to take her bag, Ms Egerton told the court.
Discussing the incidents with the prosecution, Judge Flewitt said: “The offences were all pre-planned. He was wearing a disguise. They were committed at night and the victims were vulnerable by the nature of their employment.”
Simon Parry, defending Toole, said that his client had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and ‘admitted responsibility for these three sets of offences’. He said the knife was used to ‘enforce the demands’ that Toole made rather than injure anybody, but added ‘that in itself is frightening’.
The defence added that Toole had recently lost his job and was ‘struggling to make ends meet’.
Sentencing, the judge told Toole that the knife was a ‘very large and frightening weapon’ and it was held ‘very close to the stomach’ of the victim in the second raid.
Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Inspector Ian Whiley of Widnes Local Policing Unit said: “Toole’s actions left his victims in fear and they are still coming to terms with their ordeal.”
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/