A thug armed with a tyre iron robbed a female cashier working a night shift in a petrol station shop, a court has heard.
A hooded John Phillips demanded money from the till, and told the terrified victim not to activate the store's panic button. The cashier was so traumatised by the robbery she had to quit her job at the garage, and has been left afraid to go out alone after dark.
Swansea Crown Court heard that in 2006 Phillips was given what is known an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) after robbing a Blockbusters video shop armed with an axe, and as a result is on a life-long licence.
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Craig Jones, prosecuting, said on the evening of July 5 last year Phillips walked into the petrol station near the Wychtree roundabout in Morriston, and attempted to buy rolling tobacco with a bank debit card. He said the defendant was hooded and was wearing a Covid face mask, and the cashier was not initially concerned at his presence. The tobacco transaction was declined, and Phillips made a joke to the effect that "she probably spent all the money" before leaving. It subsequently emerged that the bank card was in fact stolen.
The court heard that five minutes later Phillips returned to the shop - the cashier was looking at her mobile and did no see him enter but suddenly became aware of a "presence" behind the counter. When the woman looked around she saw the defendant brandishing a large tyre iron.
The 36-year-old defendant told the woman not to reach for the shop's panic button, and then demanded she open the till and give him money. The prosecutor said, perhaps unsurprisingly in the circumstances, the cashier felt she had no option but to do as she was told. The woman handed over between £200 and £250 cash and Phillips left, taking packets of tobacco as he went and warning his victim not to call the police.
The robbery was reported to police, Phillips was identified, and three days later he was arrested.
In a victim impact statement which was read to the court by the prosecutor, the cashier said she was suffering with nightmares about the raid, and was now afraid to go out alone after dark or to walk her dogs. She said the experience had forced her to leave the job at the garage, and she is unsure whether she will ever get over it.
John Edward Brynmor Phillips, whose address was given as Parc Prison near Bridgend, had previously pleaded guilty to robbery and to handling stolen goods - the bank card - when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. The court heard that in 2006 he was given an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) with a custodial element of nine years for carrying out two separate robberies on the Blockbuster video rental shop in Woodfield Street in Morriston, one while armed with a knife and one while armed with an axe. An IPP - a controversial type of sentence which has since been abolished - means Phillips is on licence for the rest of his life, and is liable for recall to prison if he re-offends. He has been recalled back to prison three times over the years.
Recorder Christopher Clee QC told Phillips that the author of a pre-sentence report had concluded he should be classed as a dangerous offender - and that was a conclusion with which he entirely agreed.
With a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas Phillips was given an extended seven-year-and-three-month sentence comprising five years and three months in custody with an extended two-year licence period upon his release. The defendant can apply to be released at the two-thirds point of the custodial part of the sentence but it will be for the Parole Board to decide if he is safe to be released.
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