7:50am Tuesday 7th July 2009
A MAN has been jailed for two years after a waiter used his karate skills to stop him robbing a chinese restaurant at knifepoint.
Bradley Sharp, 20, downed food and booze at the Imperial Chinese Buffet, Great Oaks, Basildon, before pulling a knife from his sleeve and demanding the restaurant manager hand over cash from the till.
He was foiled by waiter and karate expert Jaing Chuah, 21, who elbowed him in the face sending him tumbling to the floor.
Sharp, of Tintern Avenue, Westcliff, was sentenced on Friday at Basildon Crown Court to 24 months behind bars.
After the hearing Mr Chauh said: “We aren’t going to let people get away with things like this.”
The restaurant’s manager Han Kwan Chua added: “I don’t know if you could say it was a kung fu chop, but Jaing is a karate expert.
“We are pleased the court has taken this seriously.
“We just want to run a nice family restaurant. We don’t want any trouble, but we won’t be intimidated by people like this.”
During the trial the court heard how Sharp breezed into the restaurant, at 3pm on Saturday, January 17.
After consuming food and drink worth £22, he suddenly pulled out a cutlery knife, which he had hidden in his sleeve.
He held the knife against the chest of the manager and said: “Give me the money from the till.” Sharp’s defence team claimed he committed the crime because he was hungry and homeless.
But when passing sentence, Recorder Mr Jeffrey Yearwood said he did not believe Sharp was particularly hard-up, as he had bought two bottles of beer from a nearby shop before entering the restaurant.
He said: “It seems you had some money. That money could have be used to buy food rather than beer.”
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