A man has been jailed for a maximum of three years over a bungled armed robbery in the Hunter that a judge has described as "amateurish and stupid".
Dylan Edward Green was not wearing a disguise when he walked into Tarro Grocery and Convenience Store while armed with a hunting knife and demanded cigarettes and cash on the afternoon of August 3 last year.
What Green had not counted on was for the store owner to chase him from the premises empty-handed.
Newcastle District Court heard during Green's sentencing on Wednesday afternoon that the now 22-year-old pointed the large knife at the male shopkeeper, tossing the backpack behind the counter for the victim to fill.
When the shopkeeper asked Green if he was "kidding", the would-be bandit responded by threatening to "chop" him.
The shopkeeper picked up a milk crate and said "well, go for it", before arming himself with a crow bar and chasing Green from the store and along Anderson Drive.
Green handed himself in at Maitland Police Station and was charged with attempted robbery armed with an offensive weapon a few hours after the failed heist - before investigators had identified him as their suspect.
In court on Wednesday, Judge Ian Bourke, SC, said that elements of the incident - including that Green did not try to conceal his identify, he left his backpack containing DNA at the scene and was caught on shop CCTV footage - showed the "amateurish and stupid nature of the offence".
"The attempted robbery in this particular case was, as the agreed facts demonstrate, a rather unsophisticated one which was quickly repelled by the victim," Judge Bourke said.
"Nonetheless it must be regarded seriously given the weapon - the hunting knife - was capable of inflicting serious or fatal injuries.
"In addition, there is the fact that the offender was not only armed with the knife but pointed the knife at the victim and threatened to 'chop' him. It was, therefore, clearly a serious attempt at a robbery."
Judge Bourke sentenced Green, who appeared via video-link from Cessnock Correctional Centre, to a maximum of three years in jail - backdated to last August. An 18-month non-parole period means Green will be first eligible for release in February.
