A desperate heroin addict, in withdrawal, who was “armed” with garden shears, passed a polite note to a shopkeeper and apologised to him as he took money from the till.

Timothy Clements claimed he only decided to commit the crime upon seeing the keys to the till after entering Lifestyle Express, in Main Street, Shildon, while carrying the small set of shears, partly concealed in his clothing.

Durham Crown Court was told he took about £100 from the till after going behind the counter, having passed the note to the shopkeeper, explaining his motive, at about 9.40am on June 28.

The 33-year-old defendant, of Cheapside, Shildon, admitted charges of robbery and possessing a bladed article in public when he appeared via video link at the court, from nearby Durham Prison, where he has been on remand in custody.

(Image: Durham Constabulary/Google Street View)

Shaun Dryden, prosecuting, said the defendant has previous bladed article offences on his record of 18 convictions for 37 offences, but he has been offence-free since 2019.

Judge Jo Kidd asked Mr Dryden if it was confirmed that the bladed implement was a set of garden shares.

Mr Dryden said CCTV footage showed him running along the street holding what appeared to be shears and, when interviewed, he accepted having them when he went into the shop.

The defendant had initially engaged in conversation with a visiting salesman when he entered the shop and then asked for a pen and paper on which he urged the shopkeeper: “Don’t make a scene”, explaining he was going to take £20.

(Image: Durham Constabulary)

Martin Scarborough, in mitigation, told the court that the defendant only made the decision to commit the crime after entering the shop and seeing the till keys.

“He accepts the victim would have been concerned having seen the handle of what he thought was a knife, but which were, actually, garden shears.

“He has been out of trouble for a number of years and, at the police station, he was very apologetic, as he was at the time of the offences.

“He had a heroin debt and that was the catalyst for committing the offence.

“The item wasn’t produced, but the handle was partly visible.

“He has shown genuine remorse, even at the time of committing the offences and pleaded ‘guilty’ at an early opportunity.

“He knows wherever it falls in the guidelines it will be an inevitable custodial sentence.”

Judge Kidd told Clements that he was, “clearly suffering drug withdrawal” symptoms when he entered the shop.

“The motivation for robbing the victim developed, with the shears concealed to a point, but still clearly visible to the victim.

(Image: The Northern Echo)

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“He allowed you to go behind the counter because he feared, from your note, you may respond violently, and you were in possession of something to stab him.

“The victim clearly believed that if he didn’t do what he was asked to do, he would be stabbed.”

Imposing a 32-month prison sentence for the robbery, Judge Kidd added nine months concurrently for the bladed article charge, relating to the shears, which she was told were not recovered after the offence.