A MAN who threatened a terrified Newport shop worker with a meat cleaver has been sentenced to more than three years in a young offenders’ institution.

Ryan Whitehead, 20, and of no fixed abode, stole £53 from Spar, in Bettws Shopping Centre, at 6.50am on September 21, last year.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of robbery and threatening a person with a blade in a public place. At Newport Crown Court yesterday, he was sentenced to three years and two months in a young offenders’ institution for the charge of robbery, with 15 months concurrent for the second charge.

He will pay a victim surcharge of £120.

The court heard how the victim, Janet Lunt, the manager of the Spar, had opened the shutters of the shop at around 6.30am and had placed the float in the tills.

Nuhu Gobir, prosecuting, said that some 20 minutes later, the defendant, wearing a ski mask and a top with the hood pulled up, climbed over the counter and threatened to “chop the complainant’s head off” while holding a “domestic meat cleaver”.

He added that the defendant disguised his accent and grabbed notes from the till before telling the victim to put pound coins in his hand.

He later spent the £53 in a nearby shop and on a taxi, and was located by police on September 23.

Mr Recorder Jonathan Furness watched CCTV footage that showed the defendant jumping over the counter.

The court heard how the defendant told the police that he did it because he was homeless and because his family had given up on him. Following the incident, he went to his aunt’s house where he broke down and confessed.

Judge Furness acknowledged that Whitehead was remorseful for his actions, but said to the court that Ms Lunt had been “terrified” as there as a “degree of force in the threat with the wielding of a meat cleaver”.

He also took into account that the defendant had convictions for 13 offences since March 2010, which included minor thefts, burglary, and motoring offences, and for breach of a restraining order.

The officer in charge, DC Simon Thomas, of Gwent Police, said: “The victim demonstrated great bravery and composure during this incident and I would like to commend her for that.

“The sentence today reflects the gravity of the offence, the consequences of which could have been far more serious.”