When she responded she would not be able to give him any food free of charge he pulled out what appeared to be a BB handgun from his pocket. Prosecutor Gareth James said: “She [the worker] thought he was going to shoot her. He said ‘It’s not worth it’ and put it back in his pocket and left and she locked the door. She called the police and he was arrested and was in possession of this gun.” Griffiths said to police officers he had been drinking and said his intention was to force them to give him free food.
Reading a statement by the female staff member, named only as Ms Williams, at Cardiff Crown Court Mr James added: “This incident made me feel really scared. I didn’t know if the gun was real or what this male wanted to do with it.” The court heard the gun was incapable of firing and while there were no pellets in the gun the woman was not aware of that at the time. Griffiths, of Roath, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and possession of an imitation firearm.
Sentencing him to 40 months in prison Judge Michael Fitton QC said: “This was a serious offence in relation to a member of chip shop staff on duty giving service to the public confronted by you armed with a BB gun and demanding food. That member of staff was scared and shocked and was in obvious and immediate fear of what it was you might make of that weapon. You have 116 [previous] offences and the nature is for the most part theft, burglary, and public order offences and disorderly behaviour whilst drinking. It must be met by a substantial term of imprisonment. What makes this so serious is the use of the imitation firearm.”
1 comment:
It blows me away to read about people with more than 100 offenses finally going to jail. Why permit them to offend so many times before finally locking them up?
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