A Sri Lankan student financing her education by working part time at a corner shop in Wrexham in the north of Wales feared she was going to be killed by a masked man brandishing a meat cleaver and demanding money.

The drama happened at the Llwyn Ifor convenience store in Tanyfron in July and was captured on CCTV.

Footage of the robbery in which the student could be heard screaming when she was confronted by the masked man was played at Mold Crown Court.

Stuart Michael Davies, 34, was wearing a balaclava and a hoodie, but the victim still recognised him as a customer who had been banned from the shop and whose sister lived next door.

Jonathan Austin, prosecuting, said she had been terrified and the experience had a big impact upon her.

Davies ordered her to open the till. She refused, but he did so and grabbed notes and coins totalling about £100.

She later told police she genuinely thought he was going to kill her.

He demanded more money and then cigarettes and grabbed at a box of cigarettes.

The robber asked for vodka and she handed him a bottle, but he then demanded beer as he left.

She was not sure if he had taken any.

Davies ran off and was arrested at a nearby house a short time later.

The victim was left distraught, tearful and frightened and while she was outside the store being tended to by members of the public, including the defendant’s sister, Davies was seen to walk by.

A friend who answered Davies’ knock on her door saw the police helicopter flying above and realised there had been an incident at the shop.

He denied being involved and was allowed in, but was arrested by officers a short time later.

The meat cleaver was found on waste ground nearby, together with some of his clothing which had been abandoned. The stolen property was also recovered. It emerged that Davies had convictions for 106 offences, including one for robbery.

The robbery in Tanyfron happened as the victim, Meshal Upeshika Sandonam, was waiting for the shop owner Nadarajah Sivajumar to arrive and to help her close up for the night.

In a victim impact statement, she said she had been left extremely frightened and nervous. She had been unable to sleep but had to return to work before she was ready because she needed the money.

She was a student from Sri Lanka and was living alone. Speaking about the robbery she said: “I really thought that I was going to be killed.”

Andrew Jebb, defending, said Davies, of Colmere Street, Wrexham, who admitted robbery and possessing the meat cleaver as an offensive weapon, had spent time in local authority care and had used alcohol to black out some of the memories of his past.

But he had been able to turn his life around. He had a well paid job as a welder on a pipeline in the Midlands and was supporting his partner and daughter.

It was “inexplicable” why in that situation, with money in the bank, he had committed the robbery after he had been drinking.

Davies claimed that he could not recall much of it because he was intoxicated but he accepted his responsibility, and while it was over in 90 seconds or less he appreciated the effect of his behaviour on his victim.

He was very remorseful and had while in custody been following a course called “Sorry” under which, if his victim wished, he could meet her to personally apologise. He had already written her a letter of apology which had been passed to the prosecution.

“He is mortified at the effect he has had on this woman,” Mr Jebb explained.

The Recorder Elwen Evans QC, adjourned sentence until Friday so she could consider whether or not he should be sentenced as a dangerous offender.

But she warned him he would in any event be facing “a substantial custodial sentence.” – News North Wales