A teenage boy has been jailed for four years following a knife-point robbery at a shop in Boughton-under-Blean, near Faversham.

A teenage boy has been jailed for four years following a knife-point robbery at a shop in Boughton-under-Blean, near Faversham. In March 2020 the offender, who cannot be named for legal reasons, used the weapon to demand money from a shop employee but was fought away with a wooden pole and left with nothing. He pleaded guilty to robbery and possessing a knife in a public place and will serve his time in a young offender’s institution having been sentenced by Canterbury Crown Court on Wednesday 22 April. The boy entered the shop, in The Street, at around 8.40pm on Monday 2 March. He was wearing a black balaclava and once inside immediately threatened a shop worker standing behind the till. Two other members of staff saw the incident taking place on CCTV and came to the worker’s assistance. During a scuffle, which saw the trio fend off the boy with a wooden pole, the offender dropped his knife and a quantity of cash he had taken. His balaclava was also removed, allowing for a picture of his face to be taken on a mobile, before he was allowed to leave. The offender was immediately recognised from the photograph and Kent Police officers detained him on the same evening. Detective Sergeant Jay Robinson, Kent Police’s senior investigating officer for the case, said: ‘Four years is a substantial sentence to be imposed on a child and reflects the severity of his offending. ‘It is completely intolerable to carry a weapon on our streets, let alone use it on an innocent victim, and I hope this young offender uses his time in custody to reflect upon his actions and change his ways.’