'I thought he was going to kill me': Hartlepool newsagent tells of fear during knifepoint robbery

The woman was working alone in the family shop on Brenda Road, Hartlepool, when Paul Smith suddenly produced a blade and snatched cash from the till.

Smith, 33, committed the robbery just after dropping his sister’s children off at primary school at around 8.40am on April 17.

He picked up some sweets worth just 10p and while at the counter he pulled out the weapon on the woman who was just 4ft 10in tall.

Jenny Haigh, prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, said: “He leaned over the counter with the knife in his hand and the blade pointed towards [the victim].

“He used both hands and tried to snatch the money from the till. She grabbed the defendant’s hand.”

The two of them struggled briefly before Smith managed to grab between £30 and £40 and fled.

He was arrested around 10 days later in Kettering after being identified from CCTV and witness accounts.

In an impact statement read in court the victim said: “I have heard about these type of incidents but I never thought it would happen to me.

“During the incident I thought he was going to do me serious harm or even kill me.

“This incident has changed my life forever and I want to move away from my shop and my home.”

Smith, of Windermere Road, Hartlepool, pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of a bladed article.

Stephen Constantine, defending, said in mitigation that Smith’s life had been blighted by a recent heroin addiction.

He said the incident was short and Smith didn’t try to harm the victim.

Mr Constantine said: “Quite simply, he was desperate. He’s absolutely appalled at himself that he should stoop so low and proffers his profound apologies.”

Jailing Smith for five years, the Recorder of Middlesbrough Judge Paul Watson said: “It was a pretty frightening incident which has left her extremely shaken to the point that she can no longer work in the shop.”

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