THREE young men who carried out a ‘foolish and amateur’ robbery on a Bridport Post Office before leaving with just £60 have been jailed.

Jake Benjamin Tipping, aged 20, Jake Steven Hawkins, 19, and Joseph Hawkins, 21, all admitted the robbery at Bradpole Post Office on Tuesday, November 25 last year.

Dorchester Crown Court was told how at 10.30am the three men, all of no fixed abode, visited the store and ‘milled around’ before leaving.

Prosecuting, Stuart Ellacott said the men then returned at 2pm and started a conversation with one staff member, Andrea Day.

Mr Ellacott added: “During this, postmaster Peter Satur was asked to ‘open the till now’ before being punched in the face.

“There was then an altercation between the group and Mr Satur, who punched Jake Hawkins on the nose which caused Jake to step backwards.

“Mr Satur then left the store and items were thrown at him as he left.

“Joseph Hawkins then approached the post office counter and tried to force his way in. There was a push and a shove between him and Mrs Day, and when she tried to grab hold of him she fell to the floor.”

After this all three men left and police officers then went to an address where they discovered the defendants and change totalling approximately £60, the court was told.

Mr Ellacott said Mr Satur was left with a painful and swollen right hand and bruises to his right lower leg and facial tendons.

Mrs Day suffered minor lip, elbow and knee injuries. Richard Tutt, who represented Jake Tipping and Joseph Hawkins, said: “This was an unbelievably foolish act.

“It was unsophisticated and amateur, giving no consideration to the consequences.”

He said Jake Tipping’s father had died suddenly in September last year and he turned to drugs as a result, running up debts of £2,000 with a local drug dealer.

Mr Tutt added that Tipping was then chased for this money, with threats to him and his family – and as a way to alleviate this he decided on the robbery.

The court was also told how Joseph Hawkins has a pregnant girlfriend and had been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome.

He applied to the Armed Forces but failed on medical grounds which led to him being ‘waylaid in his approach to life’, Mr Tutt said.

Robert Pawson, representing Jake Hawkins, said his client had a difficult childhood, with an absent father, and had been diagnosed with ADHD.

He added that following a relationship break-up last year, Jake Hawkins had been ‘knocked sideways’.

Mr Pawson said: “Jake struggled to pay the rent, started using narcotics and stopped working. He also racked up debts of £2,000.”

Handing down the sentences, Judge Peter Johnson said: “You three decided to enter Bradpole Post Office to satisfy your short term need for cash.

“There were two vulnerable victims who were left traumatised.

“This matter is so serious that only a custodial sentence is considered appropriate.”

Jake Tipping was jailed for four years, Jake Hawkins for two years and eight months and Joseph Tipping for two years and ten months, with two months running consecutively for three earlier offences of battery in May 2014.

'Justice system has worked'

Speaking to the Echo after the sentencing, postmaster Mr Satur, pictured right, said: “It’s important for Bridport, the village community and post office staff that they are safe and that the justice system has worked.

“We’re thankful to the community for their support throughout this time.

“We have managed various changes over the last year and the robbery hasn’t dampened our resolve to run the post office or store. We are now celebrating our first anniversary and are looking forward to the coming year.”