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A TEENAGER who decided to act out a scene from BBC's Crimewatch programme has been sent to a young offenders' institution after a court heard how his blackmail plot had backfired.

Joshua Cockwell, 19, of no fixed address, admitted blackmailing a Boscombe shopkeeper on March 14 this year.

Prosecuting at Bournemouth Crown Court, Stuart Ellacott said Cockwell had given an envelope to a young boy and asked him to take it into the Londis store in Palmerston Road.

A note inside read: "Right, you are going to put £400 in an envelope for me. No cops on this because I will get a team of robbers to turn the shop over. I will send the boys in.

"If I get hints of the cops, your shop will get burnt down with you in it."

The shopkeeper decided to ignore Cockwell's threats and rang the police.

He was arrested the next day in Palmerston Road after being caught on CCTV cameras.

Cockwell told police: "I'm going to put my hands up to this.

"A few nights earlier I had been watching Crimewatch and saw how an armed robbery had been committed."

Mr Ellacott added: "This made him think about trying something different; he often had thoughts of doing something like armed robbery."

In his defence, the court heard that Cockwell had never intended to carry out his threats.

He suffered from severe learning difficulties and the effects of a tragic childhood.

Sending Cockwell to a young offenders' institution for 10 months, Judge Roger Jarvis told him: "This was not a spur of the moment incident.

"There was some planning, the preparation of the note and selection of someone to go into the shop.

"The note was written in quite terrifying terms. It must have been terrifying for the recipient."

7:00pm Sunday 11th May 2008

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