TWO men who attempted to frighten an Abertillery shopkeeper in order to rob a convenience store of cash, cigarettes and alcohol have been jailed.

Calum Cavaciuti, 23, of Cross Street, and Ashley Deacon, 20, of Richmond Road, both of Abertillery, appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday, January 12.

The pair previously pleaded guilty to a count of robbery and also pleaded guilty to a burglary offence at the Somerset Hotel public house in Abertillery.

A third defendant, Brittany Tippins, 18, of Arael View, Abertillery, appeared alongside the pair, and also pleaded guilty to the charge of robbery.

Prosecuting, Jason Howells showed the court CCTV footage of the pair challenging the shopkeeper of the Abertillery News and Convenience Store, Appukutty Atputharajah, during the raid on October 12.

The pair called Mr Atputharajah a “f****** p***” before making off with a till, cigarettes and alcohol.

Mr Howells said: “The first male was a regular customer in the store,” adding the second male had been in the store earlier that day asking for a “box of beer with a tap”.

The barrister added that around £1,400 in cash was taken, while the estimated financial effect on the store was in the region of £3,600.

Mr Howells read part of the victim personal statement, and said that Mr Atputharajah was “having trouble sleeping” following the robbery.

The court heard that Tippins was involved in the robbery by providing Cavaciuti and Deacon with a change of clothes and also drank some of the stolen alcohol.

Mr Howells added that Cavaciuti and Deacon, along with another male who remains unknown, left the pub £3,080 out of pocket by taking a till more than £1,000 inside and bottles of alcohol, as well as causing damage which required repairs, in the burglary on October 3.

Defending Cavaciuti, Gareth Williams told the court his defendant wrote a letter in an effort to show remorse.

“He states he is very sorry for what he has done. When he saw the CCTV, he was very ashamed,” said Gareth Williams.

Defending Deacon, Matthew Roberts said Deacon had struggled with drugs in the past but was looking to change.

“He passed a drug test and has been drug free for months,” said Mr Roberts.

Both barristers added that their defendants wanted to “frighten” the shopkeeper during the robbery, and the use of a racist term was only used in the heat of the moment, rather than reflecting their views.

Defending Tippins, Karl Williams said the 18-year-old has complied with the police through the investigation.

“This young lady gave up the case against her in her initial comment to the police”, said Karl Williams.

Concluding, judge Jeremy Jenkins said Cavaciuti and Deacon, in committing the convenience store robbery, targeted a “vital lifeline” to a community such as Abertillery.

“You attacked like a pack of animals, showing him no respect whatsoever,” said the judge.

Cavaciuti received a consecutive 54-month prison term – 18 months for the burglary and 36 months for the robbery – from the judge.

Deacon was sentenced to 52 months consecutively in a young offenders’ institution – 16 months for the burglary and 36 months for the robbery.

Mr Jenkins also uplifted the robbery offences for Cavaciuti and Deacon, due to the aggravating feature of racist language used during the incident.

Both will be released midway through their prison terms on licence and will be asked to pay a statutory surcharge on release.

Tippins received a sentence of 16 months, suspended for 18 months, for the robbery offence.

The judge said to the teen that the incident should be a lesson regarding the “company she chooses to keep” but felt she had shown remorse for her actions.

Mr Jenkins also ordered Tippins to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work in the community and to attend the thinking skills programme for a period of 19 days.

Tippins will have to pay a victim surcharge of £140, which will be paid over a period of three months.