Hooded drug addict jailed for town chemist robbery

Callum Exley-McTaggart pulled a hood over his head and put his sleeve across his face when he walked in to Cohens on Castleford's Carlton Street.

Prosecutor Brooke Morrison told Leeds Crown Court that staff had been getting ready to close up the shop for the evening when Exley-McTaggart knocked on the door shortly before 6pm on October 13 this year.

A member of staff unlocked the door and he barged in and began demanding money and the tranquiliser drug, diazepam.

Another staff member was able to raise the alarm, but not before the till was opened and Exley-McTaggart grabbed a handful of notes before fleeing the shop.

He was picked up by police a short time later after a staff member followed him.

In total, he managed to take £100 in notes, but only £25 was recovered as he dropped most of the cash in the street as he ran.

During am interview with police he denied making threats to staff, and claimed he was so drunk he could not remember carrying out the robbery.

The 26-year-old, of Mary Rose Court, Featherstone, has 19 convictions for 42 offences, including multiple assaults and shoplifting.

He was previously handed a criminal behaviour order (CBO) in an effort to curb his offending.

In the days after the robbery he appeared at Leeds Magistrates' Court where he was jailed for six months for other, unrelated matters including shoplifting and assault.

He admitted a robbery charge relating to the pharmacy raid and appeared at Leeds Crown Court via video link from HMP Leeds.

Mitigating, Harry Crawson said: "He has previous convictions but it does not include anything like this. He is quite appalled by his behaviour.

"It's not something he has ever contemplated before."

He said that Exley-McTaggart's addiction to drugs has "plagued him for many years" and added: "He went down an unpleasant path which brought him to committing this offence."

The judge, Recorder Ben Nolan QC told Exley-McTaggart: "It was a very unpleasant offence committed against a pharmacy, which are premises that are always going to be vulnerable."

On top of the three-year jail term, the CBO was varied to include him being banned from entering Cohens Chemist in Castleford.