A man has been jailed for carrying out a knifepoint robbery at a shop near Sutton after staff told him he wasn't allowed to bring his dog inside. Mark Kavanagh, 36, of Brand Lane in Sutton in Ashfield, threatened staff with a blade at a store on High Street in Stanton Hill.
It happened at around 8.30pm on November 23, with Kavanagh having gone into the store with his dog. He is said to have become aggressive when staff said dogs were not allowed inside.
He then grabbed bottles of alcohol from the fridge and put them in a bag before going to the counter and pulling out the knife. Staff put cash inside the bag, with Kavanagh repeatedly banging his clenched fist and the blade against the counter as they did so.
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Police eventually tracked Kavanagh down the evening after and arrested him, with detectives finding the clothes he had worn during the shop raid and a knife on his bedside table. Kavanagh has now been convicted of robbery and possession of a knife in a public place.
Appearing at Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday (March 1), he was given a custodial sentence of eight years and four months. Four years of the sentence will be served on licence.
Detective Sergeant Matt Dumbrell, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "This must have been a very frightening ordeal for the shop staff and no one should have to face such violent, threatening behaviour while earning a living. Thankfully officers were able to catch up with Kavanagh quickly and I hope this reassures the community that we take this sort of incident extremely seriously."
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