An armed robber who threatened to ‘smash’ a Morrisons worker’s head if they did not hand over 10 boxes of Benson and Hedges cigarettes has spared jail.
Amir Master, 27, of Brownlow Way, Bolton, was sentenced 18 months imprisonment, suspended for two years at the Bolton Crown Court, reported Manchester Evening News.
He was also ordered to complete a 12-month mental health treatment requirement and 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days.
The court also ordered to subject him to a three-month electronically monitored curfew. Master was also asked to return the cigarettes he had stolen from Morrisons.
According to the report, Master entered the supermarket at the Brownlow Fold store in Bolton armed with a wrench and with a ski mask covering his face in June last year.
He threatened a female member of staff at the store and asked her to hand him over ’10 boxes of Benson and Hedges sky blue’.
When she placed them on counter, Master smashed the wrench on the screen, before fleeing the store with the cigarettes.
Prosecution barrister Alexandra Sutton told the court that his robbery was witnessed by a 14-year-old customer.
Despite his disguise, an employee recognised him as a regular client. Police usedCCTV to track Master to his home.
Officers discovered the cigarette packs in a safe and a quantity of wrenches under his bath.
In a victim personal statement, the female employee revealed that she felt ‘paranoid and unsafe’ after the incident, adding that it had a ‘lasting, damaging effect’ on her.
Master guilty to robbery, and the court heard that he has two previous convictions, including possession of a bladed article in 2014.
Defending, Mark Fireman told the court that Master has schizophrenia which was the real reason behind the offence. He added that at the time of the offence, he had been off his medication for a week, due to a delivery issue at his pharmacist.
Passing sentence, Recorder Nicholas Clarke said that Master’s culpability was ‘diminished’ due to his mental health condition.
