Terry and Mandy Pallot outside Dolphin Stores after the 22 August robbery. They have since sold the business. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 0830735)

TWO heroin addicts were sentenced to a total of more than nine years after admitting robbing Dolphin Stores.

Wesley Guilbert, 30, and Sam Verard, 24, both of no fixed address, took £705 from the store after forcing the shop assistant to open the till by threatening her with a knife.

The Royal Court heard yesterday that Verard brandished the blade while Guilbert grabbed money out of the till. The robbery left the 56-year-old shop assistant traumatised.

Verard was sentenced to four years and three months while Guilbert received four years for his part in the robbery plus an additional year for being in breach of a community service order from a previous conviction.

Deputy Bailiff Richard Collas said both defendants had bad criminal records and were considered to present a high risk of reoffending.

‘This court deplores the carrying of weapons and has no tolerance of those who commit offences while carrying weapons,’ he said.

Terry and Mandy Pallot owned the shop at the time of the robbery – although they have recently sold it.

Mr Pallot said the police had kept him informed as the case had developed.

‘That sentence is about what we were expecting,’ he said.

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