A pharmacist was told he'd be stabbed during a "terrifying" raid on his shop.

Dean Glover and Lewis Coombes swept bottles of perfume from their shelves into bags in broad daylight during the incident at The Abbey Pharmacy in Sherborne on September 1 last year.

Staff attempted to stop the men, hanging onto their tops in a bid to prevent them from leaving.

However, both Glover and Coombes continued to make for the exit.

At the door, Coombes turned and told the pharmacist: "I have hepatitis C and I'm going to stab you."

Coombes, 29, whose address was given as of Westwey Road, Weymouth, then pushed his victim away and slapped him in the face with an open hand.

Both Coombes and Glover appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court for sentence yesterday – Glover in the dock and Coombes via prison video link.

Stuart Ellacott, prosecuting, said: "These two men, along with another, entered a pharmacy in possession of a bag.

"Having entered the pharmacy, they proceeded to empty shelves of perfume and the like."

He said staff called the incident "terrifying".

CCTV footage was then shown to the court of the raid.

As it played, Coombes – watching images of the pharmacist grabbing his top – said: "He nearly had me, didn't he?"

No weapon was seen during the incident, the court heard.

Mr Ellacott then read aloud details of the defendants' antecedent history.

After he told the judge Coombes had 29 convictions for 57 offences, the defendant said loudly: "I've got to stop doing this ****."

Glover, 39, who waved as his co-defendant appeared on the television screen, has 57 offences for 134 offences.

However, he is no longer taking heroin and crack cocaine and hopes to go back into work when he leaves prison, it was heard.

Judge Peter Johnson told the men: "On September 1 2016, you, together with another man, having planned what you were going to do, covered your faces and took bags into a pharmacy in Sherborne.

"Together, you ransacked shelves in a brazen episode of shoplifting."

Judge Johnson said staff had suffered a "marked psychological impact".

"Most seriously of all, in your case Coombes, you threatened the victim, saying you would stab him and you had hepatitis C.

"You struck him on the face with an open palm."

Coombes was sentenced to 18 months in prison after admitting robbery. After serving half of his sentence, he will be released on a 12-month licence and supervision.

Glover, of St James's Square, Aberystwyth, was sentenced to six months behind bars after admitting theft. His sentence includes a concurrent four-week term for breaching his bail.

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