AN ARMED robber who tried to stab a shop manager in the face pleaded guilty to robbery and using a knife.

20-year-old Finn Church entered the One Stop Shop in Monnow Street on July 25 at about 9am and began banging on the counter with his hand shouting and swearing "I want a £100" and attempted to open the cash cassette on till number 2 with his knife.Store manager Dane Wheatley was at the back of the shop sorting out stock while his co-worker was on a break. He came down the ramp thinking it was a rowdy customer and noticed the man was carrying a knife with a 12 inch blade."I went behind the counter and locked the door quickly," Mr Wheatley told the Beacon."I tried to keep the man calm while pressing the silent panic alarm, but he kept banging on the counter".Church then shouted "'I'm going to slice your throat and kill you" and lunged at the manager with his knife as Dane was trying to calm him down, hitting the plastic Covid-19 screen with the knife with enough force to make a hole in the screen."The knife was inches away from my face" Dane added.Church then tried unsuccessfully climbing underneath the plexiglass shield but then ripped the screen away. Mr Wheatly then thought to himself, "I'm not dying over a couple of £5 notes" and handed over about £100 in £5 notes.Church then calmed down and walked out of the shop "as if he had just withdrawn the money from a cashpoint" added Mr Wheatley. On leaving the shop, Church then dropped the money as he hid the knife in the flower bed outside the adjacent shop and tried picking up the £5 notes before running off down the street.A woman and her five children tried picking up the money to hand back to Dane but he came to the door and told them to "quickly leave the area as there is a man with a knife running around".Police were able to identify Church from the CCTV as his hand was bandaged.Church was later arrested by police at a flat in the town.The One Stop Shop was then shut for the rest of the day whilst police carried out a forensic examination of the premises.At Newport Crown Court on Sept 30, Church, of Kings Fee, Monmouth, admitted robbery and threatening another with a blade or pointed article.He had no previous convictions.The judge, Recorder David Elias QC, told Church: "You arrived at the store brandishing a large knife."You were clearly under the influence of drink and drugs at the time."You told Mr Wheatley, 'I'm going to slice your ******* throat and kill you.'"You held the knife close to him."The court can't even imagine what Mr Wheatley must have been feeling."Church was sent to a young offender institution for three years and ordered to pay a £190 victim surcharge following his release from custody."We see all walks of life in here, you just have to get on with it" said Dane speaking to the Beacon after the sentencing."A lot of townsfolk came in to say how glad they were to see I'm safe" he added."We usually get the odd rowdy customer late in the evening but you just put up with it" he added.