A FORMER service station boss who robbed the business armed with a crowbar in a 3.45am raid has been jailed for three years and four months.
Newport Crown Court heard that Nathan Jones, aged 23, of King Henry V Drive, Monmouth, stole £4,000 from Raglan Services on February 24 wearing tracksuit bottoms over his face with holes cut in them and plastic bags over his feet.
But despite the amateur attempt at disguise and putting on a fake accent, the former woman colleague he threatened recognised the hapless raider by the way he walked and talked, and because he knew where the money was kept in a staffroom cupboard.
The court was told that Jones had been the deputy manager at the service station, but decided to rob it in the early hours of February 24 after his partner had left him and he had lost his job, leaving him in financial difficulties.
He knew former colleague Leigh Strawford would be working that night, and threatened her with a metal bar when she was alone in the shop.
She quickly realised he knew what he was doing, ignoring the till and going straight to the cupboard where the money was kept, said Sam Shepherd, prosecuting.
He told her he wouldn’t hurt her if she didn’t alert police for 45 minutes.
Sarah Iles, defending, said the robbery was a spur of the moment crime when he was driving around trying to collect his thoughts after the break up of his three-year relationship, financial problems and losing his job after several days of illness.
Jones, who admitted a charge of robbery, described the crime as “the biggest mistake of my life” and had written a letter of apology to his former workmate, she added.
Jailing Jones for 40 months, Judge Peter Rouch said: “This offence is so serious. You produced a metal bar and it had a very serious psychological impact on Ms Strawford.”