Woman, 70, terrified after attempted armed robbery

Darren Lee Henderson, 41, has a record of 107 offences, including the daytime robbery of Boots pharmacy in 2018, for which he was jailed for three-and-a-half years.

It was just before 2pm on a day in July that he targeted the Popular Bookstall at the Town bus terminus, entering it through the back door and threatening the sole person there, a 70-year-old woman, with a knife, demanding money.

The woman lied that she had none and he fled.

She later told police that she had seen a man enter one of the unused phone boxes opposite the stall earlier and he appeared frustrated when he found it not working.

He was wearing a balaclava-type mask which covered his mouth, which she thought odd since few people were wearing masks at that time.

She saw him leave the phone box but then he appeared behind her, entering the stall via its back door which was kept unlocked during working hours. By this time he had pulled the mask over his nose and was brandishing a knife.

After she said she had no money, he jumped over the counter and ran off.

The police were contacted.

He was arrested later that afternoon and a knife was found on him, which he said he used for fishing.

He appeared to have been drinking, which was confirmed by a breath test.

The woman positively identified Henderson and police found his fingerprints on the inner door of the stall and saw him on CCTV of the area.

He initially explained the prints by saying that he had relations with a woman in the stall, but went on to admit the offence in the Royal Court.

The woman said the experience was terrifying and said that the stress she had suffered had led to her having mini-strokes.

She said she had been anxious on returning to work after taking a couple of days off and was advised by her doctor to give up the job.

Prosecuting advocate Rory Calderwood said that he was not asserting that the woman’s medical condition was directly caused by the failed robbery.

For Henderson, Advocate Samuel Steel asked the court to take the defendant’s guilty plea and the fact that this was an incomplete offence into consideration.

The defendant knew he would be going to prison and intended to use this to prepare to become a contributing member of society upon his release.

At the time of the offence he had lost his job and his accommodation and the only reason he could give for his actions were that they were an act of ‘self-sabotage’.

He sincerely apologised to the victim and said his actions were not targeted at her personally.

The defendant had a long history of substance abuse which started when he was only eight years old and during his younger years he had been in and out of care establishments and foster homes.

Passing the sentence of the court, Judge Russell Finch said the incident was an inept but worrying attempt to rob the stall.

It was clear that the robbery had been planed and the use of a weapon and the effort to disguise himself were aggravating factors.

He was assessed by probation as having a high risk of reoffending.

‘Guernsey people need to be protected,’ said the judge.

As well as six years’ in prison, Henderson was give a three-year extended sentence of supervision upon his release.

At the time of the offence he was on bail after appearing in the Magistrate’s Court and admitting offences of theft, drug possession and taking a bicycle.

After the jurats left the court, Judge Finch sat as a judge of the lower court and heard that the theft of a man’s wallet containing £95 cash was from the changing rooms at Beau Sejour and the theft of a man’s bicycle was from the same place on another occasion.

A tablet containing 0.43 of the class B drug methylphenidate, commonly known as Ritalin, was found in the wallet.

Henderson was given three months – to run consecutively with the Royal Court sentence – for the wallet theft, seven days concurrent for the drug possession and fined £50 for taking the bike.