Carl Jubin (Image: South Wales Police)
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A shop worker who had stood behind the same counter for 18 years was knocked to the floor and left with burns after a customer forced his way past her in a dispute over an e-cigarette.
Carl Jubin, 40, of Heol Loveluck in Bridgend, has been jailed for two years at Cardiff Crown Court, appearing over a prison video link after admitting robbery.
Three visits
The trouble started at the Spar on Ewenny Road in Bridgend on May 28, when Jubin called in and bought a refillable e-cigarette. Somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes later he was back, agitated, waving the device around and insisting it was the wrong one before launching into a stream of swearing.
Trying to take the heat out of the situation, the shopkeeper told him: “Cool down, I’ll serve you now.”
His response was a threat: “I know where you live and I’ll come and burgle your house.”
The robbery
Another 10 to 15 minutes went by before Jubin arrived for a third time, prosecution barrister Charles Archer told the court. On this occasion he came round the till and tried to barge through the Perspex door. The shopkeeper attempted to hold it shut from her side, but he forced his way past, pushing her over, and took a vape. “I only want this one,” he said.
Officers detained him the following day. He answered no comment when questioned at a police station in Bridgend.
Victim impact
The shopkeeper was left with burns to her back and a bruise to her elbow. A statement read on her behalf said the incident had left her “extremely nervous, frightened and vulnerable, and has had a significant impact on her daily life”.
The statement went on: “I’ve felt anxious in the shop and constantly in fear, and find myself looking at the front door of the shop on edge, worried an incident like this may happen again. I used to work one late shift a week but I’ve since had to stop.
“I struggle to sleep at night. I keep replaying in my head what I could have done differently. I have worked at the store for 18 years and never had anything like this. Nobody should be subjected to this whilst at work.”
Mitigation
Giles Hayes, representing Jubin, said: “He has genuine remorse and is shocked by his conduct. His drug problem is being managed in the community by way of medication and has allowed him stable accommodation.
“He has jeopardised all that by his conduct at the Spar store in Bridgend in May. He fully recognises and appreciates his wrongdoing.”
Sentencing
Recorder Greg Bull KC told him: “Shopkeepers need to be protected by people who behave like you, especially in the current climate where there is concern of people going into shops and acting with violence.”
Jubin was handed a two-year prison sentence.
