Two masked and hooded women raided a corner shop with a knife and demanded money from the lone member of staff, a court has heard.

The shopkeeper grabbed a plastic milk crate to defend himself from Bethan John and Jessie Thompson who subsequently fled empty-handed, discarding the knife in a hedge as they made off. When the pair were located by police they told the officer they had been planning to hand themselves in after the weekend.

Sending them down, a judge at Swansea Crown Court said the courts would always act to protect vulnerable shop workers.

Brian Simpson, prosecuting, told the court that, shortly before noon on Friday, July 11, this year, John and Thompson entered the Pil Corner Stores in Milford Haven with the hoods of their coats up and their faces covered by bandanas.

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