'Relief' for Portsmouth shop workers after knife-wielding robber dumped behind bars for violent raids

A KNIFE-wielding robber who terrorised shop workers before making off with items – including £5,000 worth of perfume – has been thrown behind bars.
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Police admitted ‘relief’ as notorious menace Jay Marsh, 31, of Hudson Road, Southsea, was taken off the streets after being jailed for three years and six months at Portsmouth Crown Court.

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The court heard how Marsh pulled a Stanley knife from his pocket and warned a shop worker to ‘get out the way’ after he was brazenly caught filling his bag and coat with items at the Co-op store in The Hard on August 25.

Jay Marsh has been jailed. Pic Hampshire policeJay Marsh has been jailed. Pic Hampshire police
Jay Marsh has been jailed. Pic Hampshire police
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Marsh then marched out of the store with £200 worth of sweets, coffee and meat that were never recovered.

The violent yob also pleaded guilty to two counts of theft in September 2021 at Boots in Commercial Road in the city centre where around £5,000 of perfumes were stolen.

Det Con Charlie Cox, who led the investigation, said: ‘Marsh has deliberately targeted shops and stolen indiscriminately and brazenly, using violence or threats of violence to shop workers, security staff and to police in order to carry out his crimes.

‘This sentence will hopefully provide shop staff with relief that for a considerable time their workplace will not be filled with threats and violence from this man.

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‘It will also provide the public the reassurance that they will not have to witness such behaviour.

‘This sentence sends a clear message that neither us nor the courts will not tolerate violence or threats of violence to shop workers, who are doing their best to serve our community in difficult times.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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