A robber subjected three women working at a travel agency to a terrifying ordeal after he grabbed hold of one of them and demanded cash.
Prolific serial robber Gary Gilboy, 60, entered the Hays Travel shop in St Helens town centre on the afternoon of Friday, June 11.
Gilboy, of Salisbury Avenue, Netherton, was masked, wearing a baseball cap, and carrying a rucksack.
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Three women were in the store at the time - the female manager, a female employee, and another woman who also worked there but was visiting while on a day off, along with a one-year-old child in a buggy.
CCTV showed to Liverpool Crown Court showed Gilboy entering the Church Street store. He first pulled one of the women up from her seat by the blazer of her uniform, and then grabbed the manager forcefully by the arm, and marched them both into the rear area where the safe was located.
The woman with the buggy, meanwhile, left the store in a state of panic and immediately called police.
CCTV from inside the office showed the staff members - in line with company policy - not resisting but opening the safe.
Gilboy then helped himself to cash and exited the store.
David Watson, prosecuting, said: "By this time some members of the public had been alerted and the defendant was chased through the Hardshaw shopping centre, where he was cornered by four people.
"When police arrived, he admitted straightaway it was him and he was arrested."
Mr Watson said a yellow screwdriver was recovered from inside his rucksack - which was not used in the robbery - together with Euros to the value of £2,545, along with £350 in cash.
In victim statements read out in court, one of the employees, Ellie Woodman, 21, said she had suffered anxiety and panic attacks following the robbery, and had been "on edge" whenever customers such as heavily-built men entered the store.
She added: "No-one should go into work and be subjected to violence."
Antonia Kelly, who had been the woman with the buggy, said she had had to resign from her job because she couldn't face going back to work following the robbery, and was on medication for anxiety.
Jeremy Hawthorn, defending, said Gilboy's problems started when his marriage broke up. The charity shop which he managed also closed because of coronavirus, and he had been unable to take up an alternative offer of employment.
Mr Hawthorn said: "This arises from debt on his part. One loan shark led to another, and this led to desperation.
"He didn't take advice and this offence came about to address the problem in an illegal way.
"He is profoundly ashamed of himself and deeply regrets what happened."
The court heard that Gilboy's criminal record went back 45 years, and he had carried out 34 previous robberies to this one.
Judge Anil Murray told bald-headed Gilboy, who sat impassively in the dock wearing a blue suit: "This had a serious effect on those you robbed. The force used was not minimal, and while it was a short-lived incident, it was frightening nonetheless."
He jailed Gilboy for five years and four months, of which he must serve half before being released on licence.
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