A TEENAGER who helped a gang rob a Newport newsagents at knifepoint is beginning 18 months behind bars.

Cardiff Crown Court also heard the 17-year-old, who cannot be named, told “a pack of lies” to the jury throughout his trial when he claimed he was somewhere else at the time of the robbery.

The Newport youth was found guilty by a unanimous verdict of a single count of robbery following a two-day trial last month.

At his sentencing on Monday, judge Philip Richards described the robber as “arrogant” for denying the charge and said having read the pre-sentence report he now knew “the defendant concedes the story he told the jury was a pack of lies”.

Defending, Owen Williams said his client was not the ringleader or prime mover in the robbery and described him as a hardworking young man who would continue to work hard in custody to achieve qualifications.

Jurors at the trial heard the teenager was part of a four-man gang who threatened shopworker Ali Riaz with a kitchen knife before making off with around £1,500 and cigarettes on December 16.

Mr Riaz was working behind the counter of Lifestyle Stores in Alexandra Road, Pill, when two youths came in.

One of them, another 17-yearold given an 18-month detention order earlier this year, pulled out a 12-inch knife and demanded money.

They were followed in by a third person, the defendant, who was covering his face with his hand and demanded money from Mr Riaz, while a fourth waited outside.

The defendant revealed his face when he moved his hand away to grab at cigarettes on the shelves.

Sentencing the youth to 18 months detention and training, Judge Richards said: “You believed you could fool the jury.

You could not, they saw through you.

“You were targeting a vulnerable victim who had to be confronted with a knife, no doubt terrified by the incident.”