A ROBBER who punched a shop worker in the face while trying to steal money was jailed for more than six years yesterday.

Andrew John Bell was found guilty by a jury at Teesside Crown Court of robbery, and it emerged he was also due to be sentenced for another robbery.

Bell had denied punching a shop assistant at the Heron Frozen Food shop, in Newton Aycliffe, last year.

Peter Sabiston, prosecuting, said Bell went to a check-out with a pint of milk and while the assistant had the till open to give him change, he grabbed some money.

Mr Sabiston said there was a brief struggle as the cashier, Amanda Quinn, tried to shut the till drawer while Mr Bell's hand was still inside it.

Miss Quinn told the court: "He then punched me in the face and ran off." She described it as a deliberate and hard punch.

Mr Sabiston said Bell, 22, of no fixed address, made off with between £50 and £60 cash.

Bell denied punching Miss Quinn in the face and said if he had struck her it had been accidental.

But a jury found him guilty, and when Recorder Paul Isaacs came to sentence Bell, it emerged he had admitted a charge of robbing a youngster collecting money on a milk road, putting him in a head lock and stealing the money.

The court heard that he committed the offence with another person last October.

Michael Graham, for Bell, said his client had not used a weapon in either incident and had been stealing to fund his heroin addiction.

Recorder Isaacs said Bell had 371 days of unexpired licence to serve, and jailed him for five years to run consecutively.

He said Miss Quinn had been courageous in trying to stop Bell from stealing the money and said it was the court's job to protect people from robbers