A MAN who held a 'terrified' shopkeeper at knifepoint during a robbery has been jailed.

Levi Hughes, aged 25, was given seven years and six months after pleading guilty to robbery and affray at a previous hearing.

At Bolton Crown Court yesterday, a judge heard that Hughes, of Rutland Road, Tyldesley, had entered N&D Off License on Wigan Road, Atherton wearing a balaclava and white gloves and drew a large knife.

He threatened a member of staff with the weapon, making her open the till , before he fled towards an alleyway. The incident happened on August 21, 2017 and he was arrested on May 9 this year.

“Hughes knew exactly what he was doing when he went in to that shop armed with a large knife," Detective constable Chris Waddicar, of GMP’s Wigan borough, said.

“He entered the off license with one intention and he used the knife to terrify anyone that stood in between him and the money he set out to steal.

“Thankfully no-one was injured at the hands of Hughes but this incident could have easily led to devastating consequences.

“The shop worker genuinely feared for her life if she didn’t comply with Hughes’s demands and I am glad that today he has been held accountable for his actions and will spend the next seven and a half years behind bars.”