Last updated at 19:35, Thursday, 16 February 2012

A Workington garage worker and a customer who tackled a hammer-wielding robber should be awarded for their bravery, a judge said this week.

Nicolas Falk, of Maryport, was working at Stainburn’s Middlemoor Service Station at 12.20am on August 22 last year when Grant Miller launched himself through a serving hatch to get to a till.

Miller, 29, of Patten Garth, Hayton, near Aspatria, was jailed for six years at Carlisle Crown Court on Tuesday.

Judge Paul Batty QC said that Mr Falk and customer Keith Miller, who tried to pull the robber away from the hatch, should receive awards for their actions.

Mr Falk, 40, said after the case: “I didn’t have any control over myself. It wasn’t until afterwards that I thought ‘oh my God’.”

Keith Miller, 64, added: “I was just there at the time when it all kicked off.”

The court heard that a car pulled up at the service station with three people inside. A woman got out and asked for tobacco and drink.

Mr Falk went to the other end of the shop, but Grant Miller then appeared and dived into the hatch opening.

Gerard Rogerson, prosecuting, said: “He opened the till, grabbing money from inside.”

Mr Falk grabbed Miller and managed to get a hammer off him. Egerton’s worker Keith Miller pulled the robber out of the hatch.

Grant Miller dropped the notes he seized during the struggle and ran off towards Workington empty handed.

The hammer had his DNA on it. He was said to have an “appalling criminal record”.

He pleaded guilty in court and, in mitigation, the court heard he was hooked on temazepam at the time and the opportunistic raid was to have funded his addiction.

Judge Batty, passing sentence, said that Grant Miller had appeared before the courts 23 times previously.

He said: “You would have been successful in stealing a considerable amount of cash but for the bravery of the man inside and a member of the public.”

Mr Falk, who is still employed at the service station, said the robbery had made him more aware of what was going on around him.

He said he felt the courts were too lenient with criminals, especially given Grant Miller’s offending history.

He also praised his bosses for their support after the raid.

First published at 19:21, Thursday, 16 February 2012
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk