Newport petrol station robber Wayne Walker jailed

Wayne Walker threatened a shop worker during the robbery, telling his victim "I'll come back for you" if he called the police right away.

At Cardiff Crown Court on Monday, the judge was told Walker, 35, had approached the Shell petrol station in the city's Chepstow Road in the early hours of the morning.

After telling a member of staff he wanted to buy cigarettes and tobacco, the defendant said there was a problem with the chip and PIN payment machine.

Wayne Walker. Picture: Gwent Police

Then, as the shop worker reached through the night-service hatch to retrieve the card machine, Walker grabbed his wrist and pulled his arm through.

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"Give me the fags," the robber shouted, and the shop worker passed him two packets of cigarettes.

"Come on, and the rest," Walker said, still pulling the employee's arm through the hatch.

Now in possession of the goods, the defendant told his victim: "Don't ring the police straight away.

"I know you and I'll come back for you."

Jenny Yeo, prosecuting, said the victim had a back injury which was aggravated during the robbery, when he was pulled against the corner of the shop's cigarette cabinet.

The incident was caught on the petrol station's CCTV cameras, and police arrested Walker at his Chepstow Road address later that day.

In a statement, he told officers: "It wasn't me at the garage and I didn't steal any items."

Walker went on to plead guilty to one charge of robbery, committed on November 27 last year.

Ms Yeo read a statement from the victim, who said he had been left "nervous and on edge" after the robbery.

"It has had a lasting effect on me," he added.

The Shell petrol station in Chepstow Road, Newport. Picture: Google

Harry Baker, defending, said Walker "wishes to apologise to the court and to the victim".

He said the defendant had "done some thinking" after the incident.

"He realised he has wasted his life so far," Mr Baker said. "He is very keen to be a better father."

The judge, David Wynn Morgan, jailed Walker for 16 months.

He was also made the subject of a restraining order, lasting five years, to not contact his victim or approach the forecourt area of the Shell petrol station in Newport's Chepstow Road.