A Newtown man who brandished a carving knife and shouted "I will hurt you" at terrified staff during a robbery at a petrol station has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Michael Evans, 35, of Cledan, Newtown was caught after he made off with a roll of £20 notes containing a tracker device during a robbery at Tesco petrol filling station in Pool Road in February this year.

The court heard he had donned a hood and brandished a carving knife at staff members Lisa Jones and Catherine Winston, ordering them to open the till and shouting: "I will hurt you". When they refused to co-operate he leapt over the counter and made off with cash and cigarettes.

But police were able to track Evans’ movements back to his home after the robbery by way of the device hidden in the notes.

Prosecutor Paulinus Barnes told Mold Crown Court that as a result of the technology officers were able to recover incriminating evidence along Evans’ route home.

They found a pair of beige cargo trousers and a black handled knife as well as a bike that they had previously seen Evans riding.

A pair of shoes was also found in a bin store next to the flats where Evans lived and DNA analysis linked them with him, while their foot prints were similar to those found in the store.

As well as picking up the tracking device the robber’s haul was just £80 worth of cigarettes.

Defence barrister Dafydd Roberts said it was an offence for "very little gain."

"He [Evans] has had a long addiction to Class A drugs and he has offended to fund that addiction," he said.

"He had been clean for seven years, but he was taken off his methadone script and he couldn’t cope. He took heroin and ran up a debt to his dealer."

Evans initially denied his involvement, but after a jury was sworn in at Mold Crown Court he admitted two counts of robbery on February 19 this year.

The court heard from one of the staff members, Lisa Jones, who said she was now anxious when she saw anything about knife crime on TV.

Sentencing him to five years and four months in prison, Judge Niclas Parry told Evans: "What you did was plainly amateurish, but frightening.

"These women were terrified and cowering and you were caught thanks to the use of modern technology and good police work."