The convict who threatened Ross-on-Wye staff a year ago was sentenced last week.

Members of staff working at Miles Morgan Travel Agents in Ross-on-Wye were threatened with acid by a convicted robber on February 17th, 2018.

Hereford Crown Court were told that Lloyd Kieran Jones entered the Travel Agents just after staff had finished clearing up for the day. Demanding money, he approached a member of staff who informed him that they could not access any money, could not unlock the safe, and had already cashed up for the day.

Jones pushed a note under the counter glass, took out a white bottle containing blue liquid, and said: “It’s acid, I want the euros.” He then shook the bottle and threatened to throw it over another staff member who was unaware of what was happening.

The member of staff behind the counter glass told the Ross Gazette that at this point she ‘panicked’ and knew she had to think quickly on her feet. She got some remaining cash and threw it out from under the counter. Jones took his note, bottle, and the cash, which was €700.

As soon as he’d exited, staff at Miles Morgan Travel Agents rang the police. They told the Ross Gazette that the police arrived almost immediately.

It was almost a week until Jones was tracked down. The member of staff who Jones had threatened recognised him when CCTV was released of a subsequent robbery on February 19th in Bridgewater, Devon. She contacted the police to alert them that it was the same man, and they traced him from there.

Heath Edwards, defending, said that Jones, from South Wales, had pleaded guilty to both robberies in Devon and Hereford and, although he had made threats in Ross-on-Wye, had not carried a bladed weapon or a firearm.Judge Daniel Pearce-Higgins gave Jones a four-year prison sentence.It will run concurrently to the 10-year sentence he was given last March when he was jailed by Swansea Crown Court for four other robberies – which included one in a bank.