A Wigan man has been jailed for fifteen years after being found guilty of a series of robberies from shops
30 year old Zach Porter was found guilty of a number of offences including robbery, theft, possession of a knife and threatening with a weapon.
The court heard how Porter in January last year entered a store on Derby Street and selected a quantity of chocolate bars and placed them in his pocket.
When he was challenged about paying for the items, he denied that he had anything on his person and then selected a bottle of wine and walked near the side of the counter towards the security door.
Porter then tried to get behind the counter and demanded that the member of staff open the till before striking the staff member on the head with the bottle of wine while trying to prevent them from pressing the panic alarm.
He then tried to grab some cigarettes before running out of the store.
A day later Porter entered a wine shop in Atherton, carrying what was described as a ‘5” flat head screwdriver’. He then approached the staff member and held the screwdriver against their ribs while demanding they open the till.
The staff member opened the till, and Porter snatched cigarettes from the drawer an took bank notes to the value of £215 to £225, before he made off from the store.
