Armed robber chased out of South Yorkshire post office by worker with golf club
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Daniel Allott wore a mask and demanded cash while make stabbing motions with the knife when he went behind the counter of Far Lane Post Office, in East Dene, Rotherham.
But when the staff member grabbed the golf club, Allott fled - only to be traced following a campaign on social media which led to the recovery of clothing, with his DNA, nearby.
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Hide AdIn a statement, the staff member said the incident annoyed him, adding: "I don't think it's right that someone can come in and do this.”
A member of the public, who was there with her grandchild, said the incident had "a huge effect" on her life, and she was now “scared to go into the post office and other small shops.”
Two days later, at 1.45am on March 17, Allott struck again, this time at a 24-hour Shell garage, where he jumped over the counter and chased the female cashier into the staff office.
He used a “sharp implement” to pry open the till, and escaped with £36 in cash and £163 of cigarettes, prosecutor Nicola Quinney said.
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Hide AdThe court heard the garage’s open-door policy has since been revised as a result.
Ms Quinney said Allott had an “extensive record going back to his youth,” including a suspended sentence for making threats with a knife, in November 2013, and 56 months in jail for attempted robbery and three burglaries, in November 2016.
David Watts, mitigating, said Allott, a crack cocaine addict and father of two, was “so focused on getting his fix he was still in his pyjamas” when he robbed the garage.
“In prison he has completed a victim awareness course and written letters of apology to his victims,” he said. “He has started to realise this cannot go on.”
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Hide AdAllott, 30, currently of HMP Doncaster, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and robbery, on September 4, after initially denying the charges.
Judge Peter Kelson QC said he had watched the CCTV of the robberies but was convinced Allott would not have used the knife.
He sentenced him to six years in prison, on Friday.
Speaking after the trial, Far Lane postmistress Binda Klair told the Star she was pleased with the verdict, adding: “I am disgusted how people think they can come in and demand money. “
Mrs Klair, who has run the East Dene post office for 22 years, praised the employee, who has since left.
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Hide Ad"I think he was brilliant!” she said. “He was brave! His wife was with him at the time. It was quick thinking.”
She said the golf club had been left behind by a customer a couple of weeks before the attempted robbery.
“We have had quite a few incidents over the years,” she said. “We had an armed robbery in 1999. It is frightening.
"You can’t work on your own and even if there’s two of you, it’s still scary.”