A “selfish and callous” robber who terrified two female shop assistants with a knife and demanded money from the till ‘intentionally committed the robbery to be remanded into custody.’
Burnley Crown Court heard the opening and mitigation for the case against Louis Conroy on Wednesday (July 24) but his sentencing was adjourned by a day so Recorder Sophie Cartwright could fully consider his sentence.
She described the offence, which happened on August 14, 2023, in detail again, saying it had a huge impact on the two shop assistants, one of whom was just 30 minutes into her first shift at the shop in Clover Hill Road, Nelson.
Recorder Cartwright said: “Your selfish and callous robbery has had a significant impact upon them.
"That is clear to this court, firstly in respect of the CCTV but secondly in what they detailed in their statements.
“You had formed an intent that you were going to commit the offence and had armed yourself with a kitchen knife. You were intentionally committing the robbery to be remanded into custody.
READ MORE: Nelson robber told shopkeeper he'd 'slash her face'
“You took that knife and entered the store. The offence was captured on CCTV. It’s a short-lived incident, nonetheless, it was a terrifying incident for the two victims of your offence.
“It’s clear from the pre-sentence report and the psychological report at the time of the offence on August 14 you were using drugs, and the background of the mitigation presented is you had a drug debt.
“August 14 is a date when you were due at probation and they had issued you with a travel warrant.”
The offence came just under three weeks after another incident involving Conroy for which he received a suspended sentence at the same court in July of last year.
Recorder Cartwright partly activated that suspended sentence as part of this sentence.
Conroy, also of Clover Hill Road, pleaded guilty to all matters.
Victim personal statements from the two shop assistants described how the reality of what happened did not sink in until much later, developing into shock and trauma which resulted in one needing counselling sessions.
Stephen Parker, prosecuting, had described how Conroy told the shop assistants “if you don’t open the f***ing till right now I’m going to jump over and stab you. I’m going to slash your face".
After Conroy left having taken the £50 he demanded, the shop owner was called and when she reviewed the CCTV, immediately recognised Conroy and said he was a regular customer.
READ MORE: Man left with serious head injuries in bottle attack at shop
Mr Parker said in the early hours of the next day, at around 2.40am, Conroy handed himself in at Burnley police station, telling an officer outside, “I’m Louis Conroy, I’m wanted for robbery and I’ve got this knife on me.”
As he was arrested, he said: “Please tell the lady at the shop I’m sorry.”
During a search, a small amount of cannabis was recovered from the waistband of his trousers.
Ellie Watson, mitigating, said Conroy was “in the throws of drug addiction” at the time of the offence and was “deeply sorry” for his actions.
Conroy has 13 previous convictions for 16 offences
He was sentenced to four years and 10 months in prison.
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