A KNIFE-POINT robber who targeted a convenience store twice in three days has been jailed.

John Anthony Cooper committed the serious offences armed with a kitchen knife at Boscombe Convenience Store in Christchurch Road last month.

Cooper was jailed for four-and-a-half years at Bournemouth Crown Court on October 21, having previously pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery and two counts of possession of a bladed article.

The court heard in the first incident on September 11 the 54-year-old defendant was holding the knife so it was pointing itowards the complainant’s face.

In the second robbery, committed on September 13, there was no such threatening gesture when the blade was produced.

Prosecutor Stuart Ellacott told the court the shopkeeper told police he did not feel afraid during the incident.

Bournemouth Echo:

Referencing the complainant’s statement to police, Mr Ellacott said: “He felt sorry for the defendant, an old man in need of alcohol.”

The court was told Cooper, of Aylesbury Road, Boscombe, was heavily under the influence of alcohol and that was the reason for the offending as well.

Mr Ellacott said the defendant had a “fairly lengthy” history with the criminal justice system.

Christopher Pix, mitigating, said his client had a great deal of remorse.

Cooper had been attending Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) since around 2000 and he had been sober for the vest majority of the past 22 years.

Mr Pix said the defendant’s recent relapse to alcohol had been sparked by the breakup with his girlfriend.

The barrister said Cooper had shared sensitive information with his girlfriend. She went on to give some of this information to people at his AA group and as a result he felt unable to go to get the support he “quite clearly needed”.

“He was therefore in that situation having been left by his girlfriend, not being able to go to Alcoholics Anonymous and perhaps in desperation he tried to get some alcohol to self-medicate, in his own words,” Mr Pix said.

Cooper felt terrible about what he did to the shopkeeper, Mr Pix said.

“This is a man who still has time to be a good positive member of society,” he added.

Judge William Mousley KC said fortunately the defendant did not appear to have been significantly affected by Cooper’s actions.

The judge said the offences were both high culpability robberies due to the production of the knife.

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