A young shop worker robbed at knifepoint by a masked man has described the terrifying experience as like a scene from a film, a court has heard.
The woman has been left wondering if she wants to continue working behind the counter after the early-morning ordeal.
The man who robbed her had a long history of offending including breaking into houses, taking cars, and a previous armed raid on a shop before he moved to Wales after being released from prison.
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A the time of the knifepoint robbery Kieran Redhead was being investigated for breaking into and trashing an office.
Swansea Crown Court heard that just after 7am on April 12 this year the defendant – with a mask covering his face and armed with a "savage-looking knife" – went into a corner shop in Dillwyn Street in Llanelli and confronted the lone woman working there.
Dyfed Thomas, prosecuting, said Redhead pointed the knife at the shop employee and demanded she open the till drawer and hand over the cash, telling her she seemed like a "nice person" and he wouldn't do anything if she didn't cause him any problems. Mr Thomas said the defendant then walked around the counter as he brandished the blade and at that point the shop worker "felt she had no choice but to open the drawer". Redhead grabbed money from till and cigarettes from the display and then made off.
The court heard the woman rang her brother-in-law who was in the flat above the shop and then the police were called. When officers arrived they checked CCTV footage and the assailant was identified. A manhunt was launched and 35-year-old Redhead was tracked down and arrested later that same morning. When searched he was found to be in possession of 1g of heroin.
In an impact statement from victim which was read to the court she said she had seen incidents like the one she had been involved in in the movies but for it to happen in real life was scary. She said she was not sure whether she wanted to continue working in the shop any more. The owner of the shop also provided a statement saying is was particularly upsetting that the assailant had been a regular customer at the shop.
At the time of the robbery Redhead was under investigation on suspicion of having burgled and ransacked an office in Stepney Street the previous October.
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Kieran Mark Redhead, of Clos Sant Paul, Llanelli, admitted burglary, robbery, possession of a bladed article, and possession of heroin. The court heard he has 38 previous convictions for 77 offences and has a long history of offending in the Midlands beginning with a string of house burglaries committed when he was a juvenile. His record also includes taking vehicles without consent, shoplifting, further burglaries, possession of heroin, criminal damage, and fraud. In 2006 he was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court to to 27 months in a young offenders institution for an attempted robbery of a Costcutter shop. This incident saw him smash the counter of the store with a crowbar while demanding money from staff before being tackled by customers and taken to the floor.
Paul Hobson, for Redhead, said the defendant had written in a letter in which he expressed disgust at his actions and in which he said he wanted to apologise to his victim as she had always been a "lovely person" while serving him in the past.
The barrister said after being released from his last period of custody in December 2018 Redhead had remainder out of trouble until June 2020 – something the defendant attributed to his new partner and their move to Wales. He added that his client's problem was abuse of controlled substances, which made him act impulsively.
Judge Geraint Walters told Redhead it must have been a frightening for the young woman working behind the counter as she "had no idea how far you would go". Giving the defendant the required one-third discount for his guilty pleas the judge sentenced him to a total of four and a half years in prison. Redhead will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence.
