Co-op staff put on a brave front when a robber repeatedly attacked the till and escaped with tobacco.
A member of staff was commended in court and awarded £200 from public funds after he was injured trying to stop the terrifying raid in Bracebridge Drive, Bilborough.
The man saw Ian Lindley - wearing a skull cap and dark glasses - try to snatch cash and "threw himself into what was a potentially difficult situation", said Ian Way prosecuting at Nottingham Crown Court.
Lindley, 43, of no fixed address, struck the man to the head with a bottle of whisky on the morning of January 4 this year.
Lindley went for the till again where a cashier climbed over the counter to escape.
He picked up scissors and jabbed them in her direction.
"She was terrified, because by now, she was behind the counter alone with him," said Mr Way.
The defendant filled a bag with tobacco products and drink and left.
He was jailed for three years for the robbery after pleading guilty. He received nine months concurrently for having an article with blade or point - a charge to cover the picking up of the scissors.
Judge Stuart Rafferty QC said one worker had a bump on his head and two other members of staff were "frightened to death".
Mitigating, Digby Johnson said "obviously the staff are traumatised" and "the court has to look at the man before it".
He said Lindley was first before the court at the age of 11 and had cautions before that.
He had a partner and child and "the two of them hoped it was a new start".
"Both his partner and daughter were killed while driving to Garth Prison to see him at the start of his sentence".
He was released, then recalled, and eventually served more than 11 years of that sentence away from Nottingham.
He ended up amassing 72 qualifications, then was released on December 19 last year, having not lived in the outside world since 2009.
He was in temporary accommodation and had just £46.50 in his pocket. He tried begging between Christmas and New Year.
"He is desperate and behaves in the way that he does," said Mr Johnson. "He doesn't have a drug problem or alcohol problem. He has just got a problem finding some sort of purchase in the world outside".
