A KNIFE-wielding robber who terrified a teenage shop worker despite his apologies has been jailed along with his former girlfriend and getaway driver as an example to others.
Judge Stephen Fowler QC told the pair Peter Nichol and Lindsay Beattie that small newsagents, often with young staff were a known vulnerable target and the courts have always called for "condign punishments" to deter others.
Nichol (23) from Dunavon Heights, Dungannon, was given three years for the robbery of £710 last March, and Beattie a 41-year-old mother of three, from Altmore Drive in the town, received two years for assisting an offender.
Judge Fowler said, as a result of the robbery, a 16-year-old schoolboy has been unable to work such was the "shock and upset" he suffered in his first part-time job.
"It was no doubt a frightening experience for this young man," he said.
He accepted that despite armed with a "bladed weapon", Nichol apologised to his victim, however added: "Nevertheless it was a disgraceful incident creating real fear, distress and stress to this young man."
On Beattie, Judge Fowler said she was much older, and "should have known better".
The robbery took place on March 27 last year. The couple were later arrested outside another shop in Dungannon.
Nichol and Beattie made their escape in her black Mini, and part of the number plate was noted, which was circulated by police.
Defence lawyer Richard McConkey said the "amateurish robbery" carried out when Nichol had addiction issues, but had since "pulled himself together considerably".
