A MASKED and armed robber who held up a convenience store in the centre of Aberystwyth has been jailed for four years.

Lee Michael Southan, 30, admitted robbery and, at the last moment, also admitted possessing a knife in a public place.

Swansea Crown Court heard how he got away with £1,125 from the Premier Express store in North Parade.

Carina Hughes, prosecuting, said Southan covered his face with a hood and a mask before entering the store at 9.15pm on Easter Sunday, 27 March.

A passing driver, Mathew Davies, spotted Southan as he approached the store and immediately concluded he was on his way to commit a robbery.

Southan confronted assistant Anna Pikula and ordered her to “open the f***ing till and give me the f***ing money.”

He handed her a draw-string bag and demanded the money from the takings that day and the day before, but was told that only one day’s takings were still on the premises.

Southan held up a knife with a blade 30cm in length and told Ms Pikula not to lie to him. She filled the bag and Southan left the store.

Meanwhile, Mr Davies had driven around the one-way system and pulled up outside the shop and offered to help.

Police looked at CCTV footage of the robbery, and Southan was identified by his voice.

Officers stopped Southan as he walked near his home at 1 Epworth Terrace later that evening and at first he appeared to co-operate, saying, “Yes, yes, I know what it’s about”.

But during an interview, he became aggressive and refused to answer any more questions.

Miss Hughes said none of the money or the knife have been recovered.

Ms Pikula later told police her heart had been pounding during the robbery and she had been terrified.

But she was determined to continue working at the store, she said.

Heath Edwards, the barrister representing Southan, said he had mental health issues and had been taking drugs in an attempt to self-medicate.

“He regrets frightening the young lady. It was an act of desperation on his part,” he added.

Sentencing Southan, Judge Keith Thomas said it had taken him six weeks to admit that he had had a knife with him.

Southan, he added, already had a conviction for possessing a knife and should have realised how seriously the courts viewed such offending.

Ms Pikula, he said, had been unnerved by the experience but had shown she was a lady of fortitude in refusing to let it change her life.