A teenager who held shop workers at knifepoint two nights in a row has been jailed.

The balaclava-clad 15-year-old, who can not be named for legal reasons, armed himself with a kitchen knife and ordered the terrified women working at the Sainsbury's supermarket in Ferryhill to hand over cash at around 10pm on February 6 this year.

The boy, of Shotton Colliery, left with the money only to return the next night and threaten two more workers, again taking cash and also a bottle of vodka.

Response officers and a dog handler raced to the scene and within 15 minutes the boy was tracked down nearby and arrested.

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He initially denied he was involved in interview but when confronted with evidence, changed his story.

At court he pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery and two counts of possessing a bladed article.

He was sentenced to four years and four months and also handed a three-year dangerous offender’s licence activated on release and a ten-year restraining order for both the store and all four victims.

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