A TEENAGE robber threatened to stab a take away employee if he did not get his manager to open the till while robbing the same premises for a second time.

The 17-year-old from Canvey, who can not be named for legal reasons, had entered Domino’s Pizza in Canvey High Street on December 1 armed with a hammer and told the assistant on the front counter to open the till.

Angela Hughes, prosecuting, said: “He asked him for money, but the shop assistant told him he could not open the till, to which the defendant told him to get his manager or he would stab him.

“There was not much money in the till, which was shown to the defendant, simply coins which were handed over. No injury was caused to anybody during the course of this incident.”

The trainee gas engineer, who pleaded guilty to counts of robbery and possessing a hammer and knife at Southend magistrates court, left with £50 in cash, having already stolen £558 during the previous robbery on November 22.

On that occasion, he entered the same pizza restaurant armed with a kitchen knife and accompanied by another male who acted as a ‘lookout’ while the defendant went up to the assistant Connor Watson and told him to ‘give me the money.’ The assistant said he could not open the till so he summoned the restaurant’s manager Ryan Willmott, though by this time the teenager was trying to climb over the counter to get to the kitchen side.

He left with £558 from the till.

Miss Hughes said the robber was identified because he shared the same driving instructor as one of the restaurant’s staff.

She added: “The defendant has no criminal record and has entered guilty pleas. The weapons are aggravating features which place this incident on the custody threshold.”

The defendant has also pleaded guilty to a separate burglary offence and the case has been adjourned until March 3 at Southend magistrates to allow for the completion of a pre-sentence report.