Clayton Blinston tried to rob Booze Buster but fled empty handed
Clayton Kevin Blinston, 31, of Morgan Street, St Helens
A man who held up an off licence with a hammer was today jailed for three years.
Clayton Kevin Blinston, 31, of Morgan Street, St Helens pleaded guilty to the “brazen and vicious” attempted armed robbery, which saw him threaten a cashier with a hammer.
Blinston went into the Booze Buster branch on Higher Parr Street at around 1.05pm on Monday February 1, before taking the hammer out of his pocket and demanding the shop assistant hand over cash. He fled the off license empty handed.
The armed thief today pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and possession of an offensive weapon at Liverpool Crown Court , and was sentenced to three years behind bars.
DC Lisa Milligan said: “This was a brazen and vicious robbery in which Blinston made repeated threats towards the shop assistant while brandishing a hammer.
“The victim showed great courage and did exactly the right thing by calling police straight away and Blinston fled the scene on foot without taking anything. However following police investigations and media coverage, he was identified and later arrested and charged.
“Blinston is now behind bars for a considerable length of time and can no longer steal from a local business. The significant sentence handed down should send a clear warning to other criminals who think it is acceptable to target local shops in Merseyside and wrongly believe they will get away with it. They won’t.”
