HEROIN addict Stephen Mall was so desperate for a fix that he robbed a petrol station cashier.

Realising the woman was alone at Pebley Beach Suzuki in Wroughton, he walked in, placed a gun on the counter and said "give me the money" before walking out with more than £300 in cash.

Swindon Crown Court heard he then returned, grinning broadly, to a friend's home where he told her: "I'm going to town to get some gear."

Mall, 20, of Anglesey Close, Westlea, has featured in the Evening Advertiser before.

He, his mother Elaine and his stepfather John spoke out earlier this year about how their lives have been torn apart by drug addiction. His parents have been desperate to find him help, and they spoke of their frustration at having to wait before he could be found treatment.

Now Mall has ended up in court again, this time admitting to the August 23 robbery as well as possessing a firearm.

Sentencing him to four years in a young offenders' institution, the recorder Mr Stephen Wildblood QC told him: "This type of offence is extremely serious. It causes terror in the person who is the subject of this type of criminality and that terror is almost invariably an experience that endures for some considerable time in the person that you so offend."

Saying that Mall had allowed his life to get into disarray, the recorder added: "You were driven by drug addiction.

"That in itself is not an excuse. You know that you must sort out that drug addiction. If you don't it will bring trouble in future."

Prosecuting, Colin Meeke said: "The cashier was very frightened."

He said she managed to press a panic alarm as Mall grabbed £40 in small coins before taking £280 in notes from the till and leaving in the direction of the nearby Three Tuns pub.

Mr Meeke continued: "She had headaches two days afterwards and had trouble sleeping."

He added that Mall was reported to police by a friend after she read an account of the robbery in the Evening Advertiser.

Police investigating Mall recovered a replica pistol, a black metal 177-calibre air gun.

Defending, James Britton said Mall had acted alone, did not use violence, did not inflict injury, had used an unloaded imitation weapon and did not intend to hurt anyone.

"Use of heroin is no mitigation but it is a reason," he said, adding Mall's drug use dated back to before he was 16.

After sentencing, Mall's 55-year-old mother, of Malmesbury, said: "We are standing by Stephen but he has got to turn his life around himself.

"I think he has got a fair sentence for what he has done. If he gets help in prison with his drugs problem, and the help of God, he could turn his life around."

The recorder ordered the destruction of the gun.

Prosecuting, Colin Meeke told the court how Mall repeated "give me the money" several times.

Mr Meeke said: "He placed a black pistol on the counter and she wasn't certain what it was. She thought it was a real pistol."

Mr Meeke said