A man, who held up a Gorleston pharmacy using an imitation gun, offered to go back and apologise after he was captured by police.
Cully Boggis, 26, went into Lloyds pharmacy on Magdalen Way, armed with a cigarette lighter, which looked like a gun, and repeatedly demanded that a frightened female staff member hand over painkillers , Norwich Crown Court heard.
John Farmer, prosecuting, said that Boggis, who tried to disguise his appearance, was given packs of painkilling drugs and then fled the scene.
Mr Farmer said the member of staff had the 'fortitude and presence of mind' to quickly report the robbery to police and Boggis was arrested shortly afterwards and the drugs were recovered.
When approached by police, Boggis told them: 'I am the one you are looking for. Can I just go back and apologise?'
Boggis, of New College Close, Gorleston, admitted robbery and possession of an imitation gun on November 3, last year, and was jailed for two years.
Jailing him, Recorder Guy Ayers warned that staff working in the store had no way of knowing if a gun was real or not.
'You chose to go to a chemists to carry out a robbery and armed yourself with an imitation firearm. People working in that store had to go through an extremely frightening experience. In the heat of the moment it's impossible for people to distinguish between an actual gun or an imitation firearm, and you were persistent in your request that you wanted drugs.'
He accepted Boggis had a number of personal difficulties, but that had to be weighed against the protection of the public.
'People who carry out robberies with the use of imitation firearms on small businesses, cannot or will not be tolerated by the courts.'
Matthew McNiff, for Boggis, said he had mental health issues and was very sorry for what he had done and wanted to apologise.
'The remorse is real and genuine.'
He added that the robbery was never going to work: 'It was doomed to failure and detection.'
Mr McNiff said Boggis was frank with police on arrest and admitted that they must be looking for him.
No one at the Lloyds pharmacy was available to comment on the sentencing off Boggis.
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