Leon Langford (Image: North Wales Police)
Last Updated: 1 minute ago
A would-be robber left a Greggs worker fearing for their life after bursting into the store armed with a kitchen knife and demanding they open the till. 🔪
Leon Langford, 49, of Wirral View, Mostyn, stormed into the Queensferry branch of the bakery chain on January 5 this year and held the blade just inches from the terrified staff member.
But the quick-thinking worker managed to escape into a back room, telling Langford they would fetch a manager, before locking the door behind them. Langford fled the store empty-handed, and police were called, Mold Crown Court heard.
The victim’s fear
In a statement read to the court, the Greggs worker described the terror they experienced.
They said: “The knife was so close to me. I kept thinking what was he going to do next?”
The worker suffered flashbacks, took the following day off, and became afraid whenever customers entered with their hoods up. They added: “I don’t have any trust anymore for people.”
The worker avoided being on the front counter because they were “in fear”, and worried it would happen again.
A day of offending
Prosecutor Simon Parry told the court the Greggs incident was one of several offences Langford committed that same day. He also carried out an attempted theft at the Asda store in Queensferry, where he tried to ram a TV in a trolley into a fire door before the alarm was activated. He attempted to put the TV back before being asked to leave.
Langford also stole two bottles of cognac and a bottle of port from a Tesco store in Holywell, and stole an item from the Spar in Queensferry.
Two days earlier, on January 3, he had committed another theft at the same Tesco store in Holywell – which he had been banned from – taking items including butter, coffee and four bottles of cognac.
Guilty pleas and previous record
Langford admitted attempted robbery, possession of a knife in a public place, three theft charges and one attempted theft charge. The court heard he had 38 convictions for 100 offences, with numerous theft offences, a previous conviction for robbery and a bladed article conviction.
Defence and sentencing
Richard Edwards, defending, said his client had entered an early guilty plea and had suffered with mental health issues and addiction. He was on medication and said he did not remember the incident. Langford was “embarrassed” and wanted to apologise to all involved, particularly the member of staff, and wanted to break his cycle of offending.
Passing sentence, Recorder Benjamin Blakemore said: “At Greggs, you attempted to rob that store using a large kitchen knife. That knife was brandished by you in a demanding and threatening manner.”
The knife was “thrust within a few inches of them,” the judge said, adding the worker “feared for their life”.
The judge said he was not convinced by Langford’s claim of being ashamed given his extensive offending over decades, telling him it was “time to grow up”.
“You are not entitled to threaten hard working people, that you seem to see yourself as more entitled than,” the judge said.
Langford was sentenced to 54 months in prison, with at least half to be served in custody before he is eligible for release on licence. He must also pay a surcharge.
