A TRAINEE bricklayer who carried out an armed robbery has been sent to a detention centre for three years.

Philip Mathews, 20, who had no previous convictions, turned to crime when he fell victim to the scourge of heroin, Burnley Crown Court heard.

Sentencing him, Recorder Leonard Portnoy said the case was tragic. The defendant came from a respectable family and he said they must be horrified to see what he had done.

But he added that the 16-year-old shopworker victim must have been terrified as Mathews committed the armed robbery.

The judge went on: "People in small shops deserve and are entitled to protection from those who go in and use force to take money and goods from them."

Mathews, of Sedburgh Street, Burnley, admitted robbery on April 12.

Harry Narayan, prosecuting, told the court Mathews went into the Burnley store where the shopkeeper's son was alone. Wielding a metal bar, he grabbed the teenager's clothing, told him to open the till and held the bar in a threatening manner. At first the youth thought the robbery was a joke but then Mathews produced a bag and told him to fill it with cigarettes. Around £25 in cash was taken from the till and Mathews left after asking for more money.

Mr Narayan added that when arrested, Mathews co-operated fully with police and showed great remorse.

Robert Crawford, defending, said Mathews came from a thoroughly decent family and had always been hard-working. He had fallen victim to the "scourge of heroin" and when he was laid off was not able to finance his drug habit.

He said Mathews committed the robbery when he was desperate for drugs cash and then went to his friend's house, thinking he had got away with it.

He had done everything he could to show his remorse, was on a methadone reduction programme and had been successful. Mathews was training to be a bricklayer and was looking forward to a decent career.

Mr Crawford went on: "This is a difficult case. It is a serious crime but this is a young man with very real prospects and very real abilities, from a very supportive family. "

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