Thief jailed after threatening retail staff with pitch fork
A thief who threatened staff and stole from two Essex stores, including a jewellery retailer, has been jailed.
Connor Sexton targeted two shops in Halstead in March within three days. On 7 March he asked to view a ring in John Winter Drake Jeweller, but when the owner brought out a tray of rings, Sexton grabbed it and ran out.
Two days later he threatened a staff member with a garden fork at The Original Factory Shop. Sexton demanded money but instead grabbed a computer hardrive, possibly mistaking it for a till, and ran out.
Sexton handed himself in following a police search of the area, reports East Anglian Daily Times.
He admitted both offences and was charged with robbery at The Original Factory Shop and theft from the jeweller.
Sexton, 23, of Stanway, was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court to 16 months for robbery and 12 months for theft, to run consecutively.
The rings have yet to be recovered.
