A local teenager who attempted to rob two shops at knifepoint has been given a six-month prison sentence.

The male, 18, who was 17 at the time of the incident and so can’t be named for legal reasons, pleaded Guilty to two counts of Attempted Robbery, Possession of Article with Blade and Common Assault.

He was sentenced at the Juvenile Court last Wednesday.

The incident happened just after 12 noon on Monday August 9 this year, when the teenager entered a shop in Irish Town and brandished a large kitchen knife, before demanding money from the till.

Whilst he was distracted, the shop assistant hit the teenager on the head with a metal bowl, causing him to leave the shop.

Outside, the shop assistant grabbed the teenager by the arm to try and detain him, but he managed to break free and then left the area.

Moments later, the police received a call to the Control Room and a number of officers were dispatched to the area, including the Gibraltar Defence Police’s Dog Section.

The teenager then entered a shop on Bell Lane and again threatened a shop assistant with the knife and demanded money.

No money was handed over and the youth ran up Bell Lane, after members of the public started shouting at him and chasing him.

He brandished the knife again at a member of the public who had given chase.

He then hid in the Engineer Lane Car Park, after hiding the knife and changing into another set of clothes that he had brought with him.

A member of the public stopped and restrained him, before handing him over to officers who had just arrived at the location.

Police then located the knife and the change of clothing from within the car park.

At Court, he was sentenced to six month’s prison for one Attempted Robbery, of which three are to be served in prison and three are suspended for 12 months.

For the second Attempted Robbery, the Possession of the Article with Blade with Common Assault, he received no separate penalty. 

The teenager has spent the past two months on remand.