By Staff Reporter

Last updated at 11:48, Saturday, 13 October 2012

Two armed robbers are today starting six-year jail terms after traumatising a village near Carlisle with an “outrageous” robbery which sent shockwaves across rural Cumbria.

• Watch video: CCTV robbery footage

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Matthew Scott, 25, and Kye Halliburton, 21, raided the post office and shop in Wetheral, near Carlisle, because they thought it would be a soft target.

Jailing them for a total of 12 years, Judge Paul Batty QC told them the village itself “and Cumbria as a whole was shocked when it heard of this crime”.

“Wetheral is a tranquil village where all the villagers – many of them elderly – go to the shop every day for their papers and for their bread and milk,” he said.

The judge said shop assistant Louise Murray, who had worked there for 11 years without previous incident, had been left “terrified and traumatised”.

The court heard she now did not know whether she would ever feel safe at work again.

Prosecutor Alan Lovett told the court Mrs Murray was working alone in the shop on June 29 when Halliburton came in and bought a pint of milk.

Mrs Murray immediately felt uneasy and, when he left, closed a security door between the rear of the counter, where she was, and the rest of the shop.

“She had a gut instinct that something was not right,” Mr Lovett said.

Moments later, Scott entered the shop, wearing a woollen hat and gloves even though it was midsummer.

He acted as if to buy Lucozade and sweets but when Mrs Murray opened the till to deposit his £10 note he drew a large kitchen knife and pointed it at her.

She backed off, fearing for her life, and he grabbed between £700 and £800 from the till before calmly walking out to the car which Halliburton had manoeuvred for a quick getaway.

Scott, a former soldier of Ellesmere Way, Morton, Carlisle, and Halliburton, of Harker Park Road, Harker Park, Carlisle, both pleaded guilty to robbery.

Halliburton also admitted driving while disqualified and with no insurance.

The pair, who spent some of the proceeds of the robbery on drugs, initially claimed they had not planned the robbery and had gone to the shop only because they wanted some milk, but the judge rejected their story, saying it was obvious that they had set off from Carlisle specifically to go to Wetheral to raid the post office.

Anthony Wilson, defending, told the court Scott had started taking drugs to ease the pain of the sights he had seen while serving as an infantryman in Afghanistan.

Mark Shepherd, for Halliburton, said his client had become addicted to valium and cocaine after leading a “hedonistic lifestyle” of parties and drug-taking.

Speaking after the case, senior investigating officer Detective Sergeant Peter Proud, said they subjected Mrs Murray to “a frightening ordeal”.

“Fortunately she wasn’t physically injured but the robbery made her fear for her life,” he said.

“As soon as police were informed of the incident, we attended the scene. CCTV was examined and just over an hour later, a patrolling police officer spotted Scott’s vehicle.

Mrs Murray, who helped nail the robbers by picking out at least one of them at an identification procedure, was given £250 reward by the judge. “The court has been immensely impressed by her presence of mind,” he said. “She behaved extremely bravely in the circumstances.”

First published at 10:54, Saturday, 13 October 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk