A ROBBER who raided a shop owned by his son’s godfather has been jailed for more than seven years.

Shop workers Peter Moody and Prafulla Patel were described as heroes after they fought off two men, one armed with an axe and a knife, who burst into the Welcome Stores on Plodder Lane, Farnworth on November 9 last year.

Mr Moody ended up with a slashed hand as he attempted to protect his colleague during the 8am robbery.

But they did not realise at the time that one of the raiders was someone they had worked alongside five years earlier.

Hugh Barton, prosecuting, told how Allen Jones’ wife had worked at the shop, he was regarded as a friend by owner Kishore Patel and the shopkeeper was even godfather to one of Jones’ three children.

Jones had helped out at the shop when his wife was ill and so knew where the safe was located in a back room.

Mr Barton said that the day before the robbery, Mrs Patel had been locking up the shop at 10pm when she saw two men with hoods up loitering suspiciously nearby.

Then at 8am the next day, shortly after Mr Moody and Mrs Patel opened up the shop, two hooded men, wearing homemade masks, burst into the shop.

While Jones made straight for the safe his accomplice, who has not been caught, ran up to Mrs Patel. She began pelting him with shop stock and she was quickly joined by Mr Moody.

“He bravely stood in front of his fellow worker,” said Mr Barton.

The court was shown CCTV pictures from inside the store of the robber brandishing an axe and a knife and Mr Moody fighting him off, chasing him from the building with two bottles of wine.

During the confrontation Mr Moody suffered a gash to his hand which needed five stitches.

Jones, carrying the safe, fled seconds later.

The safe was found abandoned in a nearby alley. Unknown to the robbers it was faulty and so Mr Patel had not used it to store cash.

Next to the safe police found a homemade face mask and, when sent for forensic analysis, it was found to have saliva on it containing Jones’ DNA.

When arrested, officers also found more masks in his car, which Jones initially claimed were cloths used for cleaning the vehicle, latex gloves, and a jacket matching one which had been worn in the robbery.

Jones claimed one of his neighbours had had access to the vehicle and the man was arrested for the robbery, but no forensic evidence had been found and no further action has been taken against him.

In a victim impact statement Mrs Patel said the robbery was the most frightening thing she has ever experienced.

Mr Moody said: “What happened was a disgrace — I am a victim of other people’s greed and desperation.”

Jones, aged 38, of Elm Grove, Horwich, pleaded guilty to robbery on the day his trial was due to start.

“He found it difficult to admit that he was one of the people responsible for this disgraceful offence,” said Andrew Costello, defending.

He stressed that Jones was not the robber wielding the weapons and that his partner, mother of his three children, is “incredibly ashamed and angry with him”.

Mr Costello said Jones had been unable to work after developing deep vein thrombosis and the family finances had suffered.

Sentencing Jones to seven years and two months in prison, Judge Graeme Smith praised Mr Moody and Mrs Patel.

“Peter Moody, one of the two employees, has been described by police as being a hero that morning,” he said.

“You can see his extreme bravery in fighting off the robber using some bottles.

“Mrs Patel showed a considerable amount of bravery considering what was going on.”

Speaking after the sentencing, Det Con Malcolm Cheetham said: “This case has shown the best and the worst of what people can do.

“The actions of Jones were disgraceful and frightening and have changed people’s lives forever.

“The polar opposite is the actions of Mr Moody, particularly in defending his friend and colleague Mrs Patel, as well as ensuring that the robbers were not successful."

Shop owner Kishore Patel said he had felt betrayed when he learnt one of the robbers was his friend.

“It was a shock. It has taken some time to take it in,” he said.

But he had nothing but praise for his employees.

“They were very brave. I couldn’t do what Pete did,” he said.