Robber threatened to stab 'terrified' Mansfield petrol station worker with dirty needle

A robber who pushed a terrified petrol station worker into the shop and then threatened to stab him with a dirty needle has been jailed for three years. Nottingham Crown Court heard how Richard Dowdall terrified the father who was working alone at night while his wife works as a carer during the day and looks after their children in the evenings.

The heavily-convicted 34-year-old demanded money and then later picked up a petrol pump nozzle threatening to set it alight. And in a victim impact statement, the worker told how he was “scared as he did not know what the defendant would do to me”.

Recorder Penelope Stanistreet-Keen said: “You dragged him and pushed him, you said you had a dirty needle and at one stage said you had a knife. I have seen the CCTV and your behaviour was terrifying and appalling.

“I have had his victim impact statement read to me and it is clear this has affected every area of his life. He was a very vulnerable victim, someone working on his own in the early hours of the morning and you have been in a lot of trouble before.”

Steven Gosnell, prosecuting, said the robbery took place at the 24-hour Stockwell Gate Service Station, in Mansfield at around 2.15am on Monday June 24, this year. He played CCTV of the robbery which captured Dowdall pushing the worker, who had been standing outside and had told him to go to the hatch to be served, into the store.

In the clip, Dowdall grabs the man and pushes him to the floor before saying “I need money I will stab you with a dirty needle” before moving around the cabinets and picking up a bottle of beer.

Mr Gosnell said: “There then seems to be something of a stand-off between them and the men actually shake hands and the defendant repeatedly apologises, going down on his haunches. The complainant then opens the door and the defendant leaves before picking up one of the nozzles and saying ‘I am going to burn this petrol pump’ but the complainant manages to switch the pump off from inside the station.

“On July 19, police received a report of a homeless man being aggressive to staff at a community hospital, they arrived and recognised the defendant as being the person on the CCTV at the petrol station.”

In a victim impact statement, the man said: “I was scared because I did not know what he was going to do to me. I only moved to the UK about a year ago and I have to work nights as my wife works as a carer and looks after the children so night shift work is my only choice.”

The defendant, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to robbery and has 19 previous convictions for 30 offences including a 2017 conviction for an armed robbery of another service station with another man.

Chris Brewin, mitigating, said his client has problems with addiction to drugs and alcohol. He said: “He is full of remorse for what he has done and is ashamed. He was on the streets and desperate. His concern is that he’s wasting his life away and he wants to put a stop to that.”

After the judge sentenced Dowdall, he said from the dock: “Can you explain to the bloke that I am genuinely very sorry, I was fuelled with alcohol and this was not planned.” Nottinghamshire Live has asked Nottinghamshire Police for a custody photograph of the defendant but the force has so far been unable to provide one.