A MAN who brandished what appeared to be a gun during a robbery at a Suffolk shop has been jailed for two years.

Heroin addict David Reilly walked into Costcutters in Kessingland at around 5pm on November 6 last year while Anjana Patel was working alone in the shop, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Reilly was wearing a woolly hat and Miss Patel could see what appeared to be a gun with a three to four inch barrel protruding from his sleeve, said Patricia Doggett, prosecuting.

After looking around the shop Reilly had ordered Miss Patel to open the till but she had got off her stool and backed away.

Reilly had then opened the till himself and grabbed �300 in notes before leaving the shop, said Miss Doggett.

During the robbery a customer had come into the shop and thought that Reilly, who told her to “stand back”, had a gun.

Police went to the shop in response to a panic alarm being activated and were told by a witness who was waiting at a bus stop that he had seen a red car outside the shop.

Thirty minutes later officers on the A12 spotted a car that fitted the description and followed it to Westleton where Reilly had jumped out and tried to hide in bushes before being detained by armed officers, said Miss Doggett.

The money, hat and weapon used in the robbery weren’t recovered and Reilly told officers he had been carrying a piece of metal rather than a gun.

Reilly, 23, of Walnuts Lane, Wickham Market, admitted robbery and possession of a small amount of heroin.

Warwick Aleeson, for Reilly, said his client had been injecting himself with heroin at the time of the robbery and his life had been “spiralling out of control”. However, since the offence he had sought help and no longer took heroin.