Anton Jones has since been jailed for eleven and a half years after the incident at the Betfred shop in Merthyr Tydfil town centre.
In April, Jones, 46, entered the shop, concealing his face with a balaclava and an eight-inch bread knife hidden in his jacket sleeve. He deliberately didn’t speak whilst demanding money from the staff as he was a regular customer in the shop, and the staff on duty would have readily recognised his voice. He stole around £600.
Following extensive CCTV enquiries, Jones’ route to and from scene was established. And soon officers located the clothing worn by Jones concealed in the undergrowth on the riverbank of the River Taff.
This was recovered and the items were forensically examined showing Jones’ DNA was on the clothing.
Detective Constable Paul Bishop said:
“Jones is a prolific offender, with four convictions for knife point robberies in the past.
“This was a team effort to bring a dangerous and unfazed offender to justice, who had no choice but to plead guilty in light of the weight of evidence against him.”
