DRUG addict Jason Holgate has been jailed for five years after raiding an off licence at gunpoint, and making off with more than £700 in cash.

The 25-year-old used a cigarette lighter shaped like a pistol to terrify staff at the Threshers shop on Queens Drive on the day before Christmas Eve last year.

Mark Ashley, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that Holgate was wearing a black hat and had a beige scarf covering his face when he went into the store on the evening of December 23.

He said there were two women working in the shop at the time, one behind the counter and the other in the back room counting the takings.

"He went to Mrs King, who was at the counter, and produced what is an imitation gun," he said.

"She says in her statement he put an arm across her neck pushing her to the back office where Miss Begley was counting money. She said she was terrified and horrified by the appearance of him."

He said Holgate took £720 in cash, which has never been recovered, before leaving the off licence.

Mr Ashley said the attack had a devastating attack on both women, who have had problems sleeping ever since. He said when police searched his home they found the imitation gun, which is in fact a cigarette lighter, and recovered some of the clothing he was wearing.

A forensic link was found between the shirt he was wearing at the time of the raid and some of the clothes of one of women at the shop, he told the court. At a previous hearing Holgate, of Riley Avenue, Walcot, pleaded guilty to robbery and possessing a firearm with intent.

Mark Mullins, defending, said: "He is very sorry for his behaviour. He does express remorse for the incident and he is doing what he can to ensure that this pattern of behaviour is never repeated."

At the time of the offence he said Holgate was suffering from some sort of psychosis, which may have been drug-induced.

He said his client wanted the money to pay off drug dealers who were pressurising him with threats to settle his debt to them.

Although he accepted that the robbery was a serious matter and likely to lead to a prison term, he said it was not the most serious in that further threats were not made to the staff and the gun was not real, so could not be discharged.

Jailing him Judge Lester Boothman said: "I want you to be in no doubt that you committed a very serious offence. Shops like this, corner shops, off licences, small building societies are very vulnerable to this type of attack.

"It has been the policy of courts for some time to impose long sentences to deter people like you committing this type of offence. It often causes shop workers a great deal of distress, as indeed it did in this case. You brandished an imitation firearm. It is quite realistic. Of course if you look at it closely you can see it is not a gun but it must have appeared realistic to the people in that shop."

Acting detective sergeant Pete Chamberlain welcomed the verdict. He led the operation to find the robber.

He said: "Armed robberies in Swindon are very rare and when they happen we have a high detection rate.

"This sentence sends out the message that if you commit a robbery then you do so at your own risk."