Robbers jailed for terrifying knife-point raid at Portsmouth shop caught on CCTV

Masking their faces and wearing gloves, Hardipak Johal and Lee Fewings burst into Best Food & Wine in Eastney Road and forced a cowering shop worker to open the till at knifepoint.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard worker Mohammed Sideek was left terrified as Johal brandished a large blade at him in the raid on December 28 at around 10.50pm.

Both Johal, 34, of Locksway Road, Milton, and Lee Fewings, 27, of Waverley Road, Southsea, admitted the robbery after being shown the footage on Monday.

Shop owner Joemon Kadapuram said: ‘It’s not good. We need to stop crime.

‘When people read this they will know if you do this then they go to prison.

‘There’s not much crime here. At the same time I’m happy with police in this situation.’

Prosecutor James Kellam said: ‘This was a knifepoint robbery.

‘It was closing-up time at night when the defendants came in. Johal had a knife. They demanded the contents of the till, they also took cigarettes.

‘They fled. The alarm was raised and police were in the area, and saw the defendants, and gave chase.

‘En route they abandoned the cigarettes before climbing a wall into a school and hid in a hiding place from which they were removed by the use of police dogs.’

They took between £400 to £500 in cash and the same value in cigarettes, many of which were recovered for the Eastney shop.

Drug addict Fewings has 18 convictions for 31 offences, including being jailed for three years for robbery.

Disabled mechanic Johal, who suffers with osteoarthritis, has eight convictions for 24 offences. The court heard he has a drug problem and his dad introduced him to drinking alcohol at the age of six.

Johal admitted having an offensive weapon in a public place.

Addressing Fewings’ barrister Jonathan Underhill, judge Timothy Mousley QC said: ‘Was he under the influence at the time?’

Mr Underhill said: ‘He doesn’t remember. It’s entirely possible but he doesn’t remember.’

Sentencing, the judge said there was no reason to treat them differently as while Fewings has more previous convictions, Johal had brandished the knife.

Judge Mousley said: ‘There has to be a prison sentence of some length.’

He jailed the pair for four years each, having reduced their sentences as they pleaded guilty.

Det Con Steve Bourne said: ‘Thanks to the quick-thinking of our officers on patrol who noticed something suspicious about these two, we had them in custody within half an hour of this robbery.

‘This was a terrifying experience for the cashier, who was confronted by two masked armed robbers while he was simply trying to do his job. No one should have to deal with that at work.

‘I would like to thank him for supporting us throughout this investigation.’