Jailed Sheffield robber took part in terrifying machete gang raids at two shops

Sheffield Crown Court heard on May 5 how Johnathan Ashton, aged 32, of Cedar Close, Stocksbridge, Sheffield, had played a role in two masked gang raids involving a machete at a Co-op store and a One Stop shop in Sheffield.

Tim Savage, prosecuting, said Ashton and two others struck at the Co-op store, on Jaunty Way, Basegreen, at around 9.30pm, on January 18, 2021, and fled with cash and cigarettes, and the defendant and two others raided the One Stop, on Cottam Road, the following day and escaped with tobacco and cigarettes.

Mr Savage added an 18-year-old Co-op shop worker said she was threatened with a machete and she has suffered with flashbacks.

She stated: “I was having flashbacks of them pointing a machete at me to remove money from the till.”

Mr Savage also said another 18-year-old One Stop shop worker told how she had been chased by someone with a machete but managed to escape into a back office.

She stated: “I was chased around the store with a machete. I was terrified. I remember when I was being chased the male said, ‘get here you’.”

Police spotted Ashton in a stolen Honda CR-V with false registration plates on January 23, 2021, and Mr Savage said Ashton drove away at speed and twice rammed vehicles before he was detained and found with an air-pistol.

Mr Savage added police also searched Ashton’s home and found two pairs of trainers with footprints matching those found at the raids.

Ashton, who has 18 previous convictions including dishonesty and violence matters, pleaded guilty to two robberies, to handling stolen goods relating to the vehicle and to possessing an imitation firearm in a public place.

James Baird, defending, said Ashton’s record is largely made up of shoplifting and non-dwelling burglaries and he has no previous convictions for robbery.

Mr Baird added: “He tried to put his life in better order because at the time of the robberies he was heavily addicted to crack-cocaine. He was keeping bad company. He was obviously having to support his drug addiction by dishonest means.”

Ashton had been drug-free on a methadone prescription the last time he was released from custody, according to Mr Baird, and he was testing negative for class A drugs.

Mr Baird said Ashton’s role in the robberies was not as the “machete-holder” but he accepts he had been part of a joint enterprise and he is remorseful and wants to put his life of crime behind him.

Recorder Jacques Algazy QC said Ashton had been part of a gang of three masked men with a machete at the Co-op who stole around £1,200 in cash and £5,600 of cigarettes.

He added Ashton had also been part of an armed masked gang of three men during the One stop raid where cigarettes and tobacco valued at around £1,300 were stolen.

Recorder Algazy who sentenced Ashton to four years and nine months of custody said: “I have read the impact statements from the victims which described the terror felt and the consequential harm.”