A HAMMER wielding robber who threatened to "smash in" a shop owner's head has been jailed.
Andrew Jones, of no fixed abode, appeared at Mold Crown Court on Thursday morning for sentence.
The 35-year-old had admitted offences of robbery, attempted robbery, taking a vehicle without consent and driving without insurance.
Ember-Jade Wong, prosecuting, told the court that on January 8 Jones entered a Premier Store in Rhyl Road, Denbigh, with his hood up and with a mask over his face.
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He had a claw hammer in his hand and told Rana Khan, the shop's owner: "Give me all your f****** money or I'll smash your head in with this hammer."
The owner decided to make a stand, throwing bottles of Pepsi and Budweiser at the defendant, who left through the door and ran away through the car park.
Later that evening he turned up at what was then a McColls Store in Denbigh Road, Ruthin, brandishing the hammer.
He shouted "this is a robbery" and demanded money from the till, threatening to use the hammer.
A staff member filled a bag with packets of cigarettes before leaving.
A member of the public pulled up in a car outside, asking if the store had just been burgled.
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The driver said he had seen Jones getting into a car and left to follow it, returning later with a license plate number for the police.
Officers tracked the vehicle, which was stopped on Barker's Well Lane in Denbigh.
Jones, who was driving, admitted "I've stolen my mum's car."
Packets of cigarettes were on the passenger seat and when they searched his room at his mother's address police found the hammer and a McColl's carrier bag.
Philip Clemo, defending, said: "He has mental health difficulties, which don't explain his particular offending in this case.
"But he is taking anti-psychotic medication in custody and he is abstinent of illegal drugs.
"He tells me he is feeling the benefit of that."
Judge Rhys Rowlands handed down a four year custodial sentence for the Ruthin offence, to encompass the defendant's overall criminality on the evening of the offences.
As such, no separate penalty was imposed in respect of the other three counts - save for six penalty points on his driving license for the insurance offence.
A restraining order of five years was made to prohibit him from contacting Rana Khan or David Edwards.
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