A garage raider has been jailed for six years after a brave cashier faced him down and refused to hand over any money.
Pawel Mlodzianowski armed himself with a BB gun which he painted black to make it look more realistic before he went into the shop at Dunns Motors in Marsh Barton, Exeter.
He fled with just a handful of sandwiches and cigarettes which he grabbed off the counter after brave shop assistant John Cree refused to open the till.
Mr Cree carried on defying Mlodzianowski even when he cocked the realistic looking BB gun and threatened to fire, Exeter Crown Court was told.
The Polish drug user fled and dumped his mask and the gun in a nearby play area where they were recovered by police before they fell into the hands of the children who use it.
Mlodzianowski, aged 26, of Newman Road, Exeter, admitted robbery, having an imitation firearm, and growing 12 cannabis plants at his home.
He was jailed for six years by Recorder Mr John Trevaskis and will be deported back to Poland when he finishes his sentence.
The judge told him:"You may have acted in an impulsive way but you took with you a weapon which had been painted so that it looked more like a real firearm.
"Anyone who looked at it would have suspected if not been convinced it was a real gun. You were met with considerable resistance by the shop worker, some might say foolhardy in the face of the weapon.
"Nonetheless he refused your demands for money despite you pointing the gun at him and cocking it. He must have thought there was a real and immediate risk of it being fired at him.
"You have come to this country from Poland to exercise your right as a member of the European Union to live a productive life in another EU state.
"Instead of that what you have chosen to do is to make use of illegal drugs and to produce illegal drugs and to try to get money by robbing other people."
Mr Ian Graham, prosecuting, said Mlodzianowski went into the shop at the garage in Trusham Road at around 9.30 am with the firearm, which he had painted from orange to black to make it more realistic and menacing.
He said:"His demands for cash were not met because of the robustness and fortitude of the shop worker.
"He placed a bag on the counter but the cashier told him he was being recorded on CCTV, at which point he looked up at the camera and became more agitated.
"The shop worker continued to resist his demands and as a result he left virtually empty handed. He left the weapon, still cocked, in a children's play area where it was recovered with his hooded top."
He handed himself into the police after seeing coverage of the raid in the local media and officers then found drugs growing in his home.
Mr David Sapiecha, defending, said Mlodzianowski had received in patient treatment at a mental unit in Poland before he came to Britain in 2008 for problems which may have been caused by the abuse of amphetamines.
He said no actual force had been used during the robbery and almost nothing taken. The raid was not planned and was carried out on the spur of the moment.
He said:"I would stress that nothing I say on Mlodzianowski's behalf should take away from the very considerable courage shown by the member of staff."
