A masked knifeman who admitted robbing a terrified pregnant shopworker was jailed for four-and-a-half years on Tuesday.

A Caernarfon crown court judge heard Darren Wyn Griffiths, 30, had lost his job as a kitchen porter because of the Covid outbreak and lockdown, and struggled with rent arrears. Defence barrister Simon Rogers said Griffiths made the mistake of drinking heavily and taking Valium.

Judge Huw Rees said Griffiths had entered the Stop and Shop convenience store in Bangor high street, brandishing a meat cleaver and demanding cash. The woman assistant was joined by her husband and she tried to close the counter serving window.

But Griffiths had forced his way in, brandishing the knife, and selected a bottle of vodka.

“A more frightening experience for an employee of a small convenience store is hard to imagine,” Judge Rees declared. The defendant had a previous conviction for robbing a student at Bangor in 2012.

Mr Rogers said there was no physical assault last month. Griffiths, of Edmund Street, Bangor, had appeared to be making progress in putting his offending behind him until the raid. “He wishes to apologise for his actions and the distress he caused the complainant and her partner,” counsel added.