Man jailed after drunken vape robbery with BB gun

A robber who drank 12 pints of lager and some vodka before stealing hundreds of pounds worth of vapes and threatening a shop worker with a BB gun has been jailed.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Lennon Francis, 22, had been “drinking like a shore leave sailor” when he made off with vapes worth £700 from Fresh N Fetch in Caerphilly on March 8.

Police received a report at around 9pm that a man drinking at The Kings Arms was armed with a handgun, prosecutor Elin Morgan said.

When officers attended Fresh N Fetch, a member of staff showed them CCTV footage which showed Francis robbing the store.

Whilst the shop worker was outside at around 9.30pm, Francis entered the shop and helped himself to vapes behind the counter – stashing them down his trousers and in a bag.

When the member of staff came back in, Francis pulled out what appeared to be a handgun and threatened him before making off.

The defendant was arrested by firearms officers whilst “extremely intoxicated” in Morgan Jones Park. The weapon was recovered when officers searched his room, and it was found to be a BB gun.

Francis, of Dol Fran in the Mornington Meadows area of Caerphilly, pleaded guilty to robbery.

Christopher Evans, in mitigation, said the defendant was “realistic” about the position he found himself in.

“He is sorry and he’s shocked over what happened,” he said.

Mr Evans said the defendant had no previous convictions and that the offence was “very much out of character”.

“He began associating with the wrong crowd and started using drugs,” he said.

The court heard Francis was working on addressing his cannabis and cocaine misuse by working with Dyfodol to complete courses whilst in custody.

Judge Eugene Egan told Francis: “You had been drinking like a shore leave sailor on this day.”

The shop owner confirmed the employee that night had been working there for just one day when the robbery took place.

“He had a baptism of fire,” said Judge Egan. “I feel very sorry for him for what happened that day.”

Judge Egan read out a reference provided to the court by Francis’ parents, where they said he “is from a stable home where he is loved and cared for”.

“Goodness knows what they must think about what you did on this particular day,” he said.

Francis was jailed for three years and three months.