Intoxicated man who assaulted beloved shop's owner jailed

A court heard William Thorne, 24, entered Broadwey Village Stores in Dorchester Road, Weymouth armed with a kitchen knife in a bid to rob the store at around 1pm on Saturday, July 24.

An intoxicated Thorne threw a bottle of tequila at the counter’s plastic screen, made threats towards the store owner, Kevin Kanthan, and demanded he handed over money.

Thorne forced his way behind the counter and punched Mr Kanthan before the shop owner overpowered him. He caused Thorne to drop the knife and chased him out.

Prosecutor Paul Fairley explained how Thorne had been sleeping at a friend’s house in the area and suddenly left the property.

He said: “A friend of Mr Thorne said he had been at her house overnight and they had drinks. In the morning, she said he was fine but quite aggressive and asked for alcohol. After 1pm he left the house and they went looking for him but he had gone into the shop owned by Mr Kanthan.”

CCTV footage played at Southampton Crown Court showed two different camera angles of the attempted robbery and assault. It showed Thorne entering the store, throwing a bottle at the screen before he ran behind the counter with a knife in hand in his clenched hand.

Mr Fairley added: “The knife held by Thorne was dropped in the struggle. The knife was identified by the resident and she confirmed it was missing from her draw. When he left her house, he had removed the knife and walked to the shop."

• Read more: Shopkeeper assaulted in Upwey by man with knife
• Read more: Weymouth shopkeeper 'knocked knife out of robber's hand'

The incident not only caused around £200 worth of damage to stock and the shop, but also had a ‘heavy impact’ on the shop owner and his family.

Since the incident, Mr Kanthan spent thousands of pounds on upgrading his business’ security and employed more staff as ‘he does not want his wife to be left on her own’.

Thorne, of Frome in Somerset, previously pleaded guilty to attempted robbery, criminal damage and possession of a knife in a public place. He had been remanded in custody at HMP Winchester since late-October.

Mitigating, Mary Aspinall-Miles, described Thorne’s actions as ‘out of character’ and suggested it was a combination of intoxication and mental health issues that sparked this incident.

She said there was genuine concerns about Thorne’s welfare as his friends ‘feared he would harm himself’.

Ms Aspinall-Miles said: “He was in a high state of distress at the time.

“We don’t seek to minimise the impact as his family run their own retail business.

“He’s horrified that he’s done that as he could only wonder if it happened to his parents. There is genuine remorse.”

Thorne was sentenced to four years and three months imprisonment for attempted robbery, 18 months imprisonment for possession of a knife and one month for criminal damage. These sentences will run concurrently.

He was also issued a restraining order not to visit Broadwey Village Stores for five years.