A man has been jailed for three years for robbing an Esso forecourt in Chesterfield.
According to the Derbyshire Times, John Morley turned up at the forecourt on Derby Road, in a balaclava, shouting “give me the money” to a terrified female worker. It happened on January 23 at around 8pm when the woman was working alone. As she tried to get away, Morley snatched her mobile phone and fled. CCTV showed that he had a knife.
Derby Crown Court heard about Morley’s fall from grace – from being a successful IT worker to a man with a drug addiction who carried out the robbery.
In a victim impact statement the forecourt worker said the robbery had left her “too frightened to go back to work”.
In separate offences, Morley had stolen two laptops while working at a Sheffield computer shop and some hair-straighteners from a Boots store.
The Derbyshire Times reported that Morley’s barrister said he had fallen in with the wrong crowd and developed a drug addiction, which cost him £5-600 a day.
After his arrest for the Esso robbery Morley told police “to see what I did on CCTV devastated me”. He added: “If I was not under the influence of drugs I would never have done it. I’ve let my family down, if I could take it back I would do.”
The court heard that Morley was now drug free, having detoxed while on remand in prison.
Morley admitted robbery, theft and possessing a knife in a public place. He was jailed for three years.
