The owner of a Crumlin store that was subjected to a brutal robbery has welcomed the 13-year prison sentence handed to the man who carried out the attack.
Daniel Carpenter, 36, of Load of Hay Road, Crumlin was sentenced at Newport Crown Court on April 13 after he admitted carrying out two separate robberies and setting fire to a car.
Heroin addict Carpenter hit the shop’s newspaper delivery man over the head with a metal pole and stole more than £900 in cash in an early morning raid on September 9 last year at the Village Shop post office.
The injured man was taken to hospital with a swelling on the top of his head. He has since been forced to give up the job, suffers regular headaches and has lost the hearing in his right ear.
Carpenter also pleaded guilty to stealing money and cigarettes from Albion Road service station in Pontypool on November 14 last year and to arson in relation to a car fire on Manmoel Road, Blackwood, the same day.
Shop owner Gaynor Hopkins said: “I am pleased with the sentence as it will send a message that you will not get away with this sort of thing.
“It has affected us in the store since as it has put us all at a much higher stage of alert.”
Gaynor told Caerphilly Observer that the Crumlin community had been really supportive.
“They look after us and check in to make sure we are okay,” Gaynor said.
PC Martyn Newman, from Gwent Police, said: “This investigation was very much a team effort and the hard work and persistence of all those involved has paid off.
“Carpenter took no responsibility for his actions and showed no remorse throughout the investigation. He lied and claimed innocence right up until the morning his trial was due to commence, it was only at the last minute he pleaded guilty.
“The sentence reflects the seriousness of Carpenter’s crimes.”
Gwent Police is continuing to investigate the identity of a second man involved in the Pontypool filling station robbery.