A MASKED robber has been jailed for using a metal pole to terrify a teenaged shop assistant during a raid on a Post Office.

Christopher West thrust the brass rod towards18-year-old Isobel Clarke and said ‘I’ll do it’ as he demanded £2,000 from the till of the shop in Teignmouth.

The quick-witted girl called for help from her father Andrew, who runs the Ashleigh Way store, by telling West that there was not enough cash in the till.

Mr Clarke arrived to find the intruder threatening his daughter with the metal pole but chased him off and forced him to leave empty handed.

West was wearing a red scarf over his face, had a hood over his head and was wearing dark glasses, even though it was 6.45pm in the evening in January of this year.

He carried out the raid because he owed a drug debt of £2,000 and was under pressure from his dealer, Exeter Crown Court was told.

West, aged 32, of Higher Yann on Drive, Teignmouth, admitted attempted robbery and was jailed for 15 months by Judge Peter Johnson.

He told him: ‘You went into a small, family-run business, and threatened 18-year-old Isobel Clarke with a copper pipe.

‘This was extremely frightening but she was a plucky young woman who summoned assistance. Even then, you maintained your demand for £2,000 from this small shop.’

Miss Bathsheba Cassel, prosecuting, said West entered the shop on the evening of January 3 when Isobel Clarke was alone behind the counter.

She said: ‘He told her to put two grands in his bag. She was very frightened and he said “I will do it; I will do it” and began to thrust the pole towards her.

‘She reached for a bell under the counter. He told her not to press it if it was a police bell but she said it was connected to the house and she was calling someone to bring the money.

‘He carried on saying “I will do it” until the store owner, Andrew Clarke, arrived and saw him. He noticed his daughter was upset and frightened.

‘West said “do you really want me to do it?” and Mr Clarke replied “not with that you’re not” and told him to **** off.

He picked up the phone to call the police and chased West out of the store.’

Police found the distinctive red scarf which he was wearing when they arrested him a couple of days later.

Isobel made a victim impact statement saying the shock of the robbery disrupted her mock A level exams and she suffered nightmares and flashbacks afterwards.

Mr Joss Ticehurst, defending, said the West was forced to commit the offence by pressure from his drug dealer to repay a debt of £2,000.

He has been addressing his drug problems while on remand and plans to start a life free of addiction and crime when he is released, said Mr Ticehurst.