Two men have been sentenced to two-and-a-half years imprisonment after they threatened a shop keeper with a knife and stole hundreds of pounds in cash and cigarettes.
Jamie Morgan, 20, of no fixed abode, and Richard Thomas, 26, of Railway Terrace, Bargoed, admitted carrying out the robbery at Greenfield Stores, Newbridge, on September 1.
Newport Crown Court was told the pair entered the shop at 3pm as owner Madeline Dyer was counting money.
Thomas grabbed the money from Mrs Dyer and threatened her. The shopkeeper tried to make her escaped but was pulled back inside by Morgan.
Thomas filled a black holdall with cash and cigarettes when Mrs Dyer noticed the knife, which was around five to six inches with a serrated edge.
The pair were arrested the following day trying to sell cigarettes at the Harlequin pub in Pengam.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mrs Dyer said: “Never in my life have I been so scared. I thought either my heart was going to give out or they were going to stab me. I was so scared.”