Brave Ashington shopkeeper fought off knife-wielding raider with shutter pole
Scott Brewis, who was addicted to drugs, fled the shop in Ashington empty-handed after meeting resistance in his attempt to rob
by Rob Kennedy · ChronicleLiveA brave shopkeeper fought off a knife-wielding raider with a shutter pole.
The terrified shop owner feared he was about to be stabbed when Scott Brewis pulled a knife out and started demanding money. Newcastle Crown Court heard was on July 13 this year that Brewis went into the Happiness Foodstore, in Ashington, wearing a hat and with the bottom half of his face covered.
He approached the counter where the owner of the shop was working and pulled out what the victim said looked like a pen knife with a dirty blade around three to four inches long.
Neil Pallister, prosecuting, said: "The blade was pointed towards the complainant and at that point he said in a calm manner 'give me the money, give me the money, give me the money'."
The quick-thinking victim, despite his fear, grabbed a pole he uses for opening and closing shutters and tried to use it to hit the knife out of Brewis' hand. The raider then fled the shop and ran away.
The victim said in an impact statement: "The incident has made me very scared and may have a long lasting effect on me."
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Brewis pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and having a bladed article. He also admitted two counts of theft that same day from B&M in Ashington, one before the attempted robbery and one after. In both offences he store Lenor detergent worth £45.
The 31-year-old, of no fixed address, who has 18 previous convictions, mainly for shop theft and burglary, was jailed for three years and one month.
Judge Tim Gittins told him: "The fact is such store owners and staff work long hours for the community's benefit, providing a valuable service and you and people like you see them as a easy target because they are vulnerable, with a lack of security available to them, to such easy pickings.
"He feared, understandably, being stabbed by you. Obviously the courts will seek to protect such vulnerable public servants."
Andrew Walker, defending, said Brewis had started smoking cannabis in his early 20s and then had a "catastrophic descent" into crack cocaine and heroin addiction, having previously had a good job. Mr Walker said: "He is remorseful for what he did."
He added: "Clearly he did produce a knife but at the first sign of resistance he desisted."
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