Robber pulled 'Rambo style' knife on Leeds shop owner before threatening to kill him

Leeds Crown Court heard Ricky Rayson carried out the robbery at Essential Planet in Bramley Shopping Centre on October 17 last year.

After entering the shop and taking a boxed hairdryer from the shelves, he approached the counter and pulled out a large "Rambo style" knife.

Prosecutor Andrew Horton said Rayson held the knife above his head and went behind the counter, telling the shop's co-owner: "Open the till or I will kill you."

The 38-year-old left with £30 in cash from the till, tobacco products worth around £20 and the hairdryer.

Members of the public alerted the police, who were told Rayson had run off in the direction of the nearby Raynville Estate.

At around 1pm, Rayson then approached a man who was on a bicycle outside the Raynville Grange flats.

He asked if the man wanted to buy some tobacco and showed him the concealed knife when he refused.

The court heard Rayson threatened to stab the man and punched him twice in the face before he cycled away.

Rayson was then seen stabbing his own door with the knife, shouting further threats about the man on the bike.

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When the police arrived, Rayson tried to escape and was tasered after he resisted arrest.

Mr Horton said the robbery had left the co-owner of the shop wanting to sell up and he was now too scared to work there alone.

Rayson, of no fixed address, admitted possession of a knife, robbery, battery, making threats to kill and making threats with a bladed article.

Sean Smith, mitigating, said his client was "mortified" and wished to apologise for his actions that day.

He said Rayson's difficult upbringing meant he had poor decision making abilities, while a psychiatric report had shown he had significant physical and emotional difficulties, "intellectual deficits" and post traumatic stress disorder.

A pre-sentence report prepared by the Probation Service said Rayson presented a high risk of serious offending.

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Sentencing him, Judge Mushtaq Khokhar said: "It does seem that right from your childhood, you had more problems than most people. You've been dealt with a bad hand."

He said that while he was sympathetic, the knifepoint robbery in particular had had an "immense impact" on the victim.

"The fact of the matter is that these were serious offences as you realise yourself," he said. "Whenever one has a knife in their hand, anything can happen."

Rayson was given an extended prison sentence of seven years and four months, including an extended licence period of three years upon release.