A KNIFE-WIELDING robber who threatened to kill a shopkeeper in front of a young customer during a raid was yesterday jailed for four years.

Benjamin Keen locked Abdul Ghafoor inside his general dealer’s store on a Teesside estate and said he would stab him unless he handed over cash and cigarettes.

Mr Ghafoor refused to give in to the demands and tried several times to flee, but was either blocked by Keen or could not unbolt the door.

Jolyon Perks, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown Court that Keen then took a handful of boxes of cigarettes and “had the temerity to ask for a carrier bag to put them in”.

The 15-minute ordeal ended when father-of-six Mr Ghafoor managed to open the door and fled with the customer after trying to lock in Keen.

Mr Ghafoor, 52, tried to run off when Keen struggled through the door with the knife in his hand, but the raider chased him, shouting: “I’m going to come back to kill you.”

Keen, 25, was found after a chase by police, hiding in a block of garages. Keen, of Woburn Grove, Middlesbrough, admitted robbery.

Robert Mochrie, in mitigation, said Keen was a classic example of the devastation caused by heroin, having left school with good qualifications and prospects.

He said: “All the offending on his record, bar one or two for motoring offences, were underpinned by his need for heroin.”

The court heard that Keen struck during the day on January 19 at Robin’s general dealers in Thorntree, Middlesbrough, near his home.

He has a catalogue of convictions for theft and dishonesty.