Two sentenced for robbery bid on Indian-origin man`s shop

London: A 19-year-old man and a 15-year-old accomplice who tried to rob a shop owned by an Indian-origin man in Britain last year have been sentenced by a court in Britain.

Kevin Francis Smith has been sentenced to two-and-half-years detention while the 15-year-old accomplice has been given a two-year youth rehabilitation order under supervision by the Leicester Crown Court Friday, the Leicester Mercury reported. Wearing masks and brandishing knives, the duo had tried to rob a Supamac store on Grange Drive in Melton borough of county Leicestershire run by Jitu Patel May 30 last year. However, Patel bravely stood up to them wielding a parcel containing a long metal pole. Recorder Graham Huston, announcing the sentence, said that the knives were large, dangerous and menacing and were waved dangerously close to Patel`s face. Referring to Patel, Huston was quoted as saying: “That man had served the local community, providing a valuable service for many years, and worked extremely hard throughout his life.” Patel has since retired after running the store for 25 years. IANS