A THIEF was chased by a shopkeeper and hit over the head with a stick after trying to steal the shop's cash register.
Shane Agius, 32, targeted Bilton News in Main Road, Bilton, and tried to make off with the cash register.
When he ran with it to the door, owner Robert Peak, 60, hit him twice on the head with a wooden stick before Agius dropped the register.
Police caught Agius hiding in his bedroom but they had to free him after he became wedged under his bed and could not get out.
Jailing him for 20 months, Judge Mark Bury told him: "You admitted intending to take money from the till and when he opened it, you made a grab for the money in it.
"Unsurprisingly, he tried to resist you and tried to close the till drawer. You made a grab for the whole of the drawer and there was force used in the acquisition of it.
"He was not letting you go without a fight and he struck you on the head with a piece of wood which he kept behind the till.
"It caused you to drop the till and run off empty handed."
The judge said the justice system had to protect shopkeepers serving their communities.
He said: "The court has a duty to protect independent small shopkeepers who run vital services to local communities and because they are small, they have limited facilities to protect themselves.
"The court has a duty to protect the likes of Mr Peak from people like you."
Agius had planned the theft to fund his Valium addiction.
He had entered the store at 4.30pm on June 10 and had taken a bottle of water and a chocolate bar to the till worth £1.25.
He placed a handful of coins on the counter and was struggling to count his change so Mr Peak offered to help him.
When Mr Peak opened the till drawer, Agius reached over and tried to grab the notes from the back of the till.
Prosecutor Jharna Jobes said: "He opened the cash drawer and the defendant leaned over and made a grab for the notes and there was a tug of war over the till drawer.
"The complainant made a grab for the stick he uses to fish out change that drops between his cabinets and struck him over the head. He ran off and he struck him again and it caused him to drop the till.
"The defendant was arrested and was found hiding under his bed and he got stuck under it."
Agius, of Gatwick Garth, Bransholme, had to be taken to hospital because he sustained an injury to his head.
When he was arrested, he told police he was "off his head" at the time of the raid.
Agius pleaded guilty to burglary at Hull Crown Court.
His solicitor Paul Norton said: "He became homeless and returned to drugs with the consequence being this offending.
"When the shopkeeper struck him over the head on two occasions, he didn't retaliate. There was no other violence other than what he did.
"He fully realises there is no other alternative to a prison sentence."
Agius was on licence at the time after being released halfway through an 18-month sentence for disorderly behaviour.
In that crime, he had forced his way into someone's house, assaulting a father and son with two others, causing cuts and fractures to them.
Judge Bury said "When you were released from your lenient prison sentence for your previous offence, you were on licence and you committed this offence on licence. It was an aggravating feature.
"This has been charged as a burglary but the circumstances are akin to a robbery."
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