The sentencing of armed robber Daniel Hayes and getaway driver Samuel Oultran this week gave a glimpse into the emotional impacts on the staff involved.
Hayes, 31, and Oultran, 24, were jailed for six and four years respectively on Monday for their roles in the three-day crimewave, striking at two Spar stores in Runcorn and a One Stop Shop in Helsby from July 10 to 12 last year.
Each time Oultran drove them to the scene, Hayes walked inside, threatened staff with a large knife and made off in Oultran’s VW Passat with cash from the till.
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Both defendants admitted three counts of robbery with Hayes, of Clifton Crescent, Frodsham, pleading guilty to a further three charges of possessing a bladed article.
A third defendant, Amy Jody Burns, 31, of Stenhills Crescent, Runcorn, acted as lookout for one of the robberies and received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to one count of robbery on the basis that Hayes and Oultran, of Churchill Mansions, Runcorn, had “intimidated” her into taking part.
Hayes, and Oultran's first victim was shop worker and Liverpool John Moores University student Moiz Khan, who was on the night shift at the Spar shop inside the Euro Garage petrol station on Thomas Jones Way in Runcorn when Hayes walked in.
Brandishing a knife, he threatened to “kill” Mr Khan.
Outside, two women - Alicia Vaughan-Jones and Leah Winstanley were visiting the shop and saw the robbery take place.
Karl Scholtz, prosecuting, read details from Mr Khan’s victim statement in which the student spoke of feeling “frightened” and “scared for my life” by the “nightmare”.
He said he now feels “extremely nervous about working at the petrol station and is considering leaving his work."
He said: “I was terrified and didn’t know what to do. I could see he was holding a very big knife and when he said if I didn’t open the till he would jump over and stab me I really did believe this."
He added: “I was really scared, no-one has threatened me with a knife before.
“He came around and told me he would come back. I didn’t know if he meant to hurt me or to get money.
“When he left I locked the door and rang 999. I began to shake a lot and felt sick, I think I was in shock.
“I had to carry on working and the next day, when I got home I couldn’t sleep, I kept thinking back to the man with the knife and what would have happened if he had stabbed me.”
Mr Khan took the next week off work because he felt “so tired through no sleep” but he had to take it as a holiday or he wouldn’t get paid.
The ordeal also stopped him from getting stuck in to his university studies and he thought his family would be so “worried” they’d tell him to return to Pakistan.
He said the potential loss of income if he decided to leave his job would have also put his tenancy shared with his girlfriend in jeopardy.
At the Spar in Palacefields On July 11, Hayes threatened a female shop worker, who the ECHO has chosen not to name, who “panicked” and thought the knifeman was going to jump over the till and stab her.
She stood there “shaking”, broke down and began crying.
She said she had to stop working because she was “so distressed” and was taken home by her father.
Her supervisor Carl Mainwaring had been “shaking and scared” and had seen “children crying”.
Although not on his own during the incident, he said he will no longer work alone.
On July 12, Hayes targeted the One Stop Shop in Helsby, first pointing a knife at Olivia Bryan on the till, then threatening staff member Scott Tregilgas warning him “next time it will be your head”, before leaving the shop.
In her victim statement, Ms Bryan said the job fits around her university course, and she remembers Hayes “shouting at me and waving the knife, telling me to open the till”.
She said: “I remember panicking as I didn’t have a key and he was saying someone was going to get hurt if I didn’t open the till.
“I was absolutely terrified and could see he was acting agitated and I was scared he was going to hurt me.”
She added: “I was scared of being slashed or stabbed. I’ve never been so scared in all my life.
“Eventually he left and I think I went into shock.
“I started shaking - I felt completely overwhelmed by what happened. My heart began to race so fast.
“I never thought anything like this would happen to me.
“Since this I’ve struggled going into shops, I’m worried about getting caught up in something again.
“I used to go out to a lot of coffee shops with my friends but since the incident I always decline and make up an excuse to go home.
“I struggled to sleep after the incident for a week, the incident would constantly replay in my head.”
Although she kept thinking about being threatened and had to take four weeks off, she was determined to continue in her job, adding: “I will continue to work here as I don’t want it to beat me.”
Victims of crime can access support via the Ministry of Justice’s victimandwitnessinformation.org.uk website.
According to the shopworkers’ union Usdaw, 60% of retail staff have been threatened, 9% have been assaulted and 79% have suffered verbal abuse.
Usdaw's Freedom From Fear campaign also aims to raise awareness and encourage stronger legislation to protect shop workers.
It said the campaign has been “successful” in gain amendments to the Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill to include protections for shop workers, but “more can be done and the campaign continues”.
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