Robber Matthew Gibson left staff fearing for their lives after carrying out two terrifying knifepoint raids at newsagents.
The 32-year-old escaped empty-handed from the first store in Newcastle - before targeting the next one just minutes later.
He then told the petrified shop assistant: “Give me the money or I’ve got a knife and I’ll stab you.”
Now Gibson has been jailed for four years and six months after admitting the series of crimes.
Debbie Gould, prosecuting at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, said the incidents took place one Sunday morning last month.
The defendant was at home in Gladstone Street, Basford, when he spotted his neighbour in the garden. He asked him if he could borrow a kitchen knife. The man went to fetch one, unaware of what Gibson was about to do with it.
Around 15 minutes later, the defendant entered a store in George Street, Newcastle, wearing a blue jacket and hoodie.
He told the shop owner, who was working on his own, to ‘give me the money’. The man replied, ‘what money?’.
Gibson then produced the five to six-inch bladed knife. He pointed it at the businessman, who was left ‘panic-stricken’.
The defendant tried to reach the counter, but couldn’t get to the till. He saw the shop owner flee out of the front door and pursued him. His victim grabbed a metal sign to use as a shield. Gibson ran away empty-handed.
But little more than five minutes later, he reached his next target further down the street. He walked into the newsagents, wearing sunglasses to conceal his identity.
He threatened the lone shop assistant with the weapon. Gibson followed the petrified worker to the till and grabbed £150 before leaving.
Police later retraced the defendant’s footsteps and found his abandoned sunglasses, tracksuit bottoms and knife near King Street car park. When they called at Gibson’s home, he told the officers: “I’m really sorry. He forced me to do those shops.”
But Ms Gould said there was no evidence the defendant was acting under duress and on the orders of someone else. “The money was used to buy drugs as he had a longstanding drug abuse problem,” she added.
Gibson’s victims were left ‘shaken up’, but otherwise unhurt.
He went on to plead guilty to robbery, attempted robbery and possession of a bladed article in public on July 7. He also admitted theft of two tracksuits from Sports Direct four days earlier.
The court was told Gibson had been on bail for the shoplifting when he carried out the knifepoint raids.
Steve Hennessy, mitigating, said his client suffered from schizophrenia and a personality disorder and had temporarily stopped taking his medication.
“He now accepts that was wrong. On the day of these incidents, he had been hearing voices in his head and they had been getting progressively louder.”
Since being in custody on remand, Gibson has resumed his medication and is also taking steps to deal with his drug problems. “This is a significant turning point in his life,” added Mr Hennessy.
Jailing him, Judge David Fletcher said the offences were ‘serious matters’. He told the defendant: “There was a single worker in each shop. They must have been terrified.”
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