A man wearing a balaclava which covered only HALF his face robbed a pawnbrokers of £19,300 - then spent the stolen cash on two drones.
Gareth Park, 41, and another unknown male, were captured on CCTV at the store in the Spindles Shopping Centre in Oldham, both wearing black face coverings as they demanded the money.
The other male, who has not been caught, was also holding a screwdriver, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
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As the clerk handed over cash in sterling, they demanded even more in dollars and euros.
In total, £19,358 was taken.
That afternoon Park, of Oldham, went to Currys and bought himself two drones worth £2,298 in cash.
Staff became concerned after recognising him from a post Greater Manchester Police had published on Facebook in relation to a theft of a registration plate, hours before the robbery.
Park was arrested and following a roadside breath test he was found to be over five times the drink drive limit - testing 168 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.
The offences began on October 25 this year at around 9.30am when a woman spotted a man getting out of a Suzuki and taking a rear registration plate from a different car before driving off.
By 10am, the two men entered the H&T Pawnbrokers, with the first male wearing a full balaclava demanding: “get me the money, I want the money.”
“A screwdriver was brandished by the accomplice,” prosecutor Gavin Howie said.
“A significant amount of money in notes was handed over, but the accomplice asked for more money.
“The clerk went into the back room and produced dollars and Euros.”
In CCTV footage played to the court, the clerk can be heard saying: “I’m doing it now,” as the men demand the money, then once the sterling notes had run out, he asked the men: “Do you want the Euros?”
They replied: “Yes, ta” and after he handed the money over they said: “See you later” before leaving the shop.
The clerk later said in a statement that they felt threatened and ‘genuinely felt they were about to get stabbed’.
Witnesses later described Park as looking ‘wobbly’ when he was seen at Curry's, before he bought the two drones in cash.
They later recognised him from a post on Facebook published by Greater Manchester Police.
“Members of the public stopped the defendant from driving away and took hold of the defendant who was later arrested on suspicion of robbery,” the prosecutor continued.
“He was found to blow 168 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath - the legal limit being 35 milligrams.”
Park was said to have previous convictions, but was last before the courts 15 years ago in 1996, so was said to be treated as a man of good character.
Mitigating, barrister Mark Fireman said his client was in work and was a family man prior to the offences.
“He had a long standing problem with drink and anxiety, and he tells me he went out on a bender that lasted a number of days,” he said.
“He doesn’t really recall much of how it came to happen.
“There was some degree of planning in the attempt to disguise the car.
“It’s submitted he played a secondary role.”
Sentencing, Judge Bernadette Baxter said it was the ‘eagle-eyed shop assistant’ who had seen him in the early hours which led to his arrest.
Speaking of the pawnbroker clerk, she said: “It must have been terrifying for him.
“He said he had lost his confidence in humanity and this has impacted his sleep.”
Park, of High Barn Street, was jailed for 34 months and banned from driving for two years with an uplift of 17 months to reflect the half time he will serve in prison.
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