Man who tried to rob Berwick takeaway and then returned 10 minutes later to order his supper is jailed

Leighton Oliver stormed into the Golden Star in Walkergate, Berwick, with his hood up and a mask over his face and demanded cash while holding a glass bottle on June 11 last year.

Newcastle Crown Court heard he left empty handed but went back 10 minutes later and tried to place a food order, using the "ludicrous" lie that he was not the raider who had just left.

Prosecutor Liam O'Brien told the court Oliver went into the shop for the first time at around 7.30pm and added: "He had a hood up and was wearing a mask which covered his face.

"He approached the counter holding a glass bottle, he held it aloft and demanded money."

Mr O'Brien said the frightened worker behind the counter ran for a colleague, who came to help.

He added: "The defendant was still holding the bottle and wanting money and repeating his demands. He was told to leave, told they had CCTV.

"He did then leave."

But Mr O'Brien told the court: "Ten minutes later he came back again, causing the employee to run into the kitchen.

"When he was asked why he had come back, he made a ludicrous suggestion he had not been the same male who was in just 10 minutes earlier and tried to order some food."

The court heard when Oliver was told the food order he wanted would cost £12, he changed his mind and left the shop empty handed again.

Oliver, 28, of Woolmarket, Berwick, admitted attempted robbery.

He also admitted burglary, common assault and criminal damage after he targeted a woman's home in the same town in the early hours of the morning, got into a violent struggle with the victim's son and threw a slab of concrete at their front door.

The court heard it was last October when the victim woke up to hear her front door opening and was shocked to see light from a torch in her living room.

She shouted and started to scream, which woke her son, who chased Oliver out of the house.

Mr O'Brien said Oliver tried to attack the son with a screwdriver, picked up a hammer and was "threatening and aggressive" before he threw a slab of concrete at the front door, causing damage.

The victim said in a statement: "To him this may be just another conviction to his name but to me, this has completely changed my life. I don't think I will ever feel safe again.

"I am just so pleased my son was there that night."

Mr Recorder James Wood KC told Oliver he was "absolutely ludicrous" to order food on the pretence he was not the raider from 10 minutes before and jailed him for a total of four years.

Lorraine Mustard, mitigating, said Oliver was "under the influence" during the burglary, has been homeless and has never served a substantial prison sentence before.