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Samuel Sneyd, 34, of Waiblingen Way, Devizes, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and possession of a knife blade at an earlier hearing and was sentenced to two years imprisonment while Adam Farrell, 32, of Rawlingswell Lane, Marlborough, pleaded guilty to the same charges on October 23 and was sentenced to two years and three months. During the evening of July 23, the pair entered the Esso Garage in Nursteed Road – they approached the till and, with their faces covered in an attempt to hide their identity from CCTV cameras in store, pulled a machete out of a bag and made several demands for cash and cigarettes to be handed over. At this point, a customer entered the store, and the pair calmly left the scene. Police were called and descriptions of the pair were given – a containment was set up in the local area and approximately one hour later, an officer spotted the pair. Farrell was arrested, but Sneyd made off from the officer and was later arrested in the early hours of the following morning at his home address where the machete was also located. Det Insp Tom Straker said: “This was a stupid, nasty and violent crime which saw Devizes Community Policing Team and Central CID working closely together to identify and catch the suspects swiftly following the initial report. There was a large police presence in the town following the incident and I know that this caused a considerable amount of concern amongst the local community – Devizes is a safe, quiet place to live and work and incidents like this are rare. However, I hope our quick response offered some reassurance to those living nearby. Since the arrests, officers from all teams have worked closely to interview the pair and build a strong evidential case against them so that they could be put before the courts and justice could be served. “The actions of both Farrell and Sneyd caused distress and upset to the cashier who was working alone at the time – it is fortunate that customers entered the store when they did as this distracted the men and they left the scene as if nothing had happened. We will not tolerate this kind of behaviour and take reports of this nature extremely seriously.”