A masked robber who stormed into a Newcastle convenience store and made off with a cash box has been jailed after police identified him by his distinctive striped shirt. Jason Downs, 55, pleaded guilty to robbery and was sentenced to 45 months at Newcastle Crown Court.
Robbery at Blakelaw Spar
Downs and an accomplice, both wearing masks, burst into the Spar shop on Moulton Court in Blakelaw at around 8.30pm on August 29. Downs grabbed a cash box containing between £500 and £1,000 and ran from the store, while his accomplice brandished a pair of scissors and threatened a store assistant.
The court heard that Downs was unaware his accomplice was armed with the scissors. The second offender, who has never been identified, also kicked a second counter cash box but could not remove it. He then used the scissors to try to open it while telling the assistant to "Open the till" and brandishing the scissors at him.
Arrest and sentence
A second member of staff pressed a panic alarm. Police used CCTV to track the offenders to an address at Beaumont House, and Downs was identified from his distinctive striped shirt and arrested on September 9. A search of his address recovered a bottle of vodka taken from the shop.
Downs, of Beaumont House in Blakelaw, has 132 offences on a record spanning nearly four decades. In a statement, the shop assistant said incidents like this impact store staff safety, adding that shoplifters always cause stress, anxiety and fear but this was on a different level.
Glenn Gatland, defending, said Downs had a 10-year-old daughter, was remorseful and suffered with drug addiction. He said the offending seemed to stem from emotional instability following the death of his long-term partner four years ago. Recorder Brian Whitehead accepted Downs' basis of plea that he was unaware his colleague had scissors.
