A "tenacious" shopkeeper fought back when a thief helped himself to bottles of Jack Daniel's whisky. Kye Fox had been drinking for days before he attended the store and tussled with an employee while attempting to steal the alcohol, despite having the money in his pocket to pay for it.
This marked his second robbery in only the space of five years, coming after he previously formed part of a gang who lured their victim to a supposed drug deal but instead bundled him into a car and took his cash at knifepoint. Despite apparently having little to no memory of his latest offence, he is now "paying a heavy price for what he did" after being sent back to prison.
Court hears of struggle
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday, Monday, that Amalini Anthonipillai was working at a convenience store on Cambridge Road in St Helens on June 13 this year when Fox and another male entered the premises. While the latter went on to buy cans of cider from the shop, the 34-year-old defendant took two bottles of Jack Daniel's whisky from a shelf and began walking out without paying.
But Derek Jones, prosecuting, described how a "tenacious" Ms Anthonipillai managed to take one of the bottles back from Fox and attempted to remove the other from him as well, adding: "There then followed a minute long struggle between them. Ultimately, they went out of the door of the shop into the road, and it carried on."
"Ultimately, the defendant seems to push Ms Anthonipillai. She fell over onto the floor, onto her knees, and the defendant made good his escape."
Racial abuse and previous convictions
Ms Anthonipillai was said to have been left with grazing and swelling to her hands and knees as a result of the incident. Fox, of St Matthews Grove in Thatto Heath, was also heard to racially abuse her on CCTV footage, which ultimately allowed police to identify him and arrest him three days later.
His criminal record shows 32 previous convictions for 58 offences, including four years for robbery in 2021. This saw him and other offenders "lure the complainant to a meeting" under the pretence of buying drugs before bundling him into a car and stealing cash from him at knifepoint.
Ken Heckle, defending, told the court: "There is a background of drug addiction. Alcohol seems to be more latterly. It is perhaps the reason that it happened as it did. The defendant accepts that he had drunken intentions, but he has little recollection of what he did."
"It was impulsive and spur of the moment. He had money on him. He does not really know why he did it. He is going to pay a heavy price for what he did. There was no weapon. There was no gratuitous violence to the complainant. There is an inappropriate remark of a racial nature."
Sentencing
Fox pleaded guilty to one count of robbery. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a grey body warmer over a navy blue t-shirt, he was jailed for four years and one month.
Sentencing, Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said: "You took it upon yourself, independently, to try and steal two bottles of whisky, but you were stopped by the female member of staff. She did what she could, in fact, probably went beyond what she was physically capable of doing."
"Your offending history has already been referred to and summarised. It is a very sorry picture of numerous court appearances, various either community orders or suspended sentences which you then went on to, on a number of occasions, breach in some form or other."
"You have a very considerable alcohol problem. You say that you had been drinking for several days before this offence. You are described as being a high likelihood of reoffending, with some medium risk of causing serious harm. That must be uplifted by your previous convictions, and also the fact that you were affected by alcohol when you committed this offence. In addition, there is the racially aggravated element of this offence."
