A man who told a barmaid to “open the till, I’ve got a knife” has been jailed for more than three years after he ran off with a wad of notes.
Kyle Illingworth, 31, from Borrowby, near Thirsk, was being “loud and obnoxious” during a three-hour booze bender at the Grey Horse in Selby.
About five pints into his drinking session, he walked through the side hatch and went behind the bar, standing “very close” to the barmaid,” York Crown Court heard.
“He whispered to her ‘open the till’,” said prosecutor Jessica Heggie.
She was “very shocked” but assumed he must be joking and told him “not to be so stupid”.
But Illingworth was deadly serious and again demanded that she open the till.
“He said ‘open the till, I’ve got a knife,” added Ms Heggie.
Illingworth grabbed the victim’s scarf, but she managed to get away as he snatched some cash from the till and ran out of the pub.
The victim, a young woman who was named in court, was said to be “very frightened”.
She called police as Illingworth ran off.
Witnesses informed a police constable of the direction in which Illingworth ran. He found Illingworth shortly afterwards jumping over a 6ft fence.
The officer gave chase but Illingworth got into a Vauxhall Astra driven by an unknown woman. The vehicle was driven off, but police later identified Illingworth from CCTV footage around the pub.
He was arrested and charged with robbery. He admitted the offence and appeared for sentence on Monday.
Ms Heggie said that in the hours leading up to the robbery on November 6, Illingworth kept taking phone calls on his mobile while playing on the pub’s fruit machine.
The woman who had phoned him had also made calls to the pub’s landline.
One witness said Illingworth was being “loud and obnoxious” during his three-hour bender.
The robbery occurred at about 3.30pm when Illingworth walked from the one-armed bandit and made his way behind the bar where he stole about £80 from the till.
He had 33 previous convictions for 48 offences including serious violence, criminal damage and many for theft.
In 2010, he was jailed for four-and-a-half years for causing grievous bodily harm.
He had also served a prison sentence of three years and nine months for wounding.
Victoria Smithswain, mitigating, said that Illingworth had been “doing well” on his prison licence since his last stretch behind bars but then turned to drink again.
“Alcohol has littered his offending history,” she added.
She said that Illingworth, who had just become a father, had worked as a labourer for a roofing firm but “once intoxicated, his life spiralled”.
She said it was “baffling” why Illingworth had robbed the pub because he had been buying drinks with cash beforehand.
She conceded that it was “a frightening offence”.
Judge Simon Hickey told Illingworth: “You are only 31 but you have a very worrying record.”
He said although Illingworth didn’t actually produce a knife, the barmaid was “very shocked and very scared”.
He said he could only imagine that the amount of drink consumed by Illingworth had given him “Dutch courage” to carry out the “mindless” robbery.
“The frightening nature (of this robbery) to this woman cannot be overestimated,” added the judge.
Illingworth, of Kirby Close, Back Lane, was jailed for three years and two months. He will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on parole.
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