A YOUNG man who pulled out a hunting knife and attempted to hold up a grocery store at Tarro immediately fled when the shop assistant grabbed a crowbar and later handed himself into police.
"Put cigarettes and cash in it," Dylan Edward Green, of Tarro, told the shop assistant after throwing a backpack behind the counter about 4pm on August 3 this year.
When the shop assistant asked if Green was kidding, the 21-year-old replied: "No. I will chop you."
Green appeared in Newcastle Local Court via audio visual link from jail last week and pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted armed robbery.
He will next appear in Newcastle District Court next month to get a sentence date.
According to an agreed statement of facts, the victim was the only person in the Anderson Drive grocery store on the afternoon of August 3 when Green entered and walked straight over to the counter.
He threw his backpack at the victim and told him to fill it up with cash and cigarettes, while holding the hunting knife in his right hand.
The victim later told police Green was pointing the knife at him and he told Green: "No one wants to get hurt, just get out."
When Green didn't leave, the victim picked up a milk crate and told him: "Well go for it then."
He quickly realised he was outmatched and picked up a metal crowbar from behind the counter, according to the agreed facts.
Green started knocking items off the counter, but when the victim came out from behind the counter with the crowbar he immediately fled out through the front doors.
The victim told police he chased Green as he ran along Anderson Drive and watched as he crossed the road before turning onto Eastern Avenue.
The victim then went back to the store and called triple-zero.
Police arrived and established a crime scene and launched an investigation, with the victim telling police he was only "slightly scared" by the sight of Green armed with the knife.
Green had been captured on the store's CCTV throughout the attempted robbery and DNA taken from the backpack and three other areas of the store would later identify him as the man armed with the knife.
But three hours later, before police could determine who their suspect was, Green handed himself into Maitland police station and confessed.
He was arrested and gave an interview to police where he admitted to being responsible for the attempted armed robbery.
Green has not applied for bail since his arrest and remains behind bars.
He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail.
