A KNIFE-WIELDING store robber gave himself up to police when he read the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's story about his crime.

Simon Mcllwane, 25, of Fishmoor Drive, Blackburn, has been jailed for 15 months for the attempted robbery at Blackamoor Stores, Roman Road.

He was masked with a scarf and brandishing a five-inch blade, Preston Crown Court heard.

He fled the scene when the proprietor Richard Murphy and another male shopper told him to leave.

The father-of-one, who pleaded guilty, threw the knife into a canal.

Judge Peter Smith said: "You had the good sense to surrender yourself to the police."

At the time, the Lancashire Evening Telegraph reported how the raid was foiled by brave assistant Claire Kennedy, 17. She refused to hand over cash after she came face to face with the robber.

Mr Murphy and the male shopper then chased the raider down the street.

Mr Murphy said at the time: "I work hard for my money and there is no way we were going to let him get away with it.

"This was the fourth time my business had been raided, but they only managed something once - the first time it happened."

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