A BETTING shop boss was so traumatised after being held at knifepoint by an armed robber that she couldn’t return to work.

Manager Stacey Meredith had worked at Betfred in Commercial Road, Bournemouth, for five years before she was threatened by raider Paul Yates.

Yates, 36, admitted robbery and possessing a bladed article at 10am on November 16 last year. He also pleaded guilty to similar charges 10 days earlier at the same bookmaker’s shop, just two days after his release from prison.

Prosecutor Sadie Rizzo said staff at Betfred had recognised homeless Yates, who was a regular customer, when he came into the premises on November 6, despite him wearing a hat and scarf over his mouth.

Yates was caught on camera leaning over the counter and demanding money from two cashiers who handed over £880.

Ten days later he returned to the shop. Miss Rizzo added: “He was wearing a hat and holding a six to eight-inch blade. He used a stool to lean over the counter and said: ‘Give me your money’, holding the knife in a threatening manner.”

Ms Meredith and another colleague handed over £200 and Yates fled. He was arrested on November 28 after snatching £230 from a till at the Iceland store on Poole Road, Bournemouth.

In a victim impact statement, Ms Meredith said: “This incident made me feel very shocked and traumatised. I felt physically sick and very emotional. I was crying and couldn’t stay at work; I didn’t feel safe.”

The court heard how, following her ordeal, Ms Meredith had no longer wanted to work at the betting shop.

Yates told police officers he had spent the proceeds of his crimes on his cocaine and heroin habit.

Defending, Isabel Gillard said her client had entered early guilty pleas and made “full and frank confessions”, telling police: ‘It’s me; I did it all.’ She stressed that Yates had a “massive” drug habit, spending several hundred pounds a day on his addiction. He had never intended to frighten the betting shop staff.

Miss Gillard added: “He had nowhere to live, had seen his ex-girlfriend with another man and had reached rock bottom.”

Jailing Yates for seven years, Judge Roger Jarvis told him that the armed robberies were “very grave offences indeed”.

He said: “It is very difficult for the court to judge the long-term effect on the victims; at least one no longer finds herself able to return to work.

“Scarcely a week goes past when the public don’t hear of the serious consequences involving the use of knives. Often people lose their lives. Quite rightly the public have a very serious view about this.”