A robber who threatened to kill a shopkeeper during an armed raid at a north Suffolk post office and convenience store has been jailed for four years.

Pankas Patel and his wife Daksha were working in the Rock Estate Post Office and store, in Hall Road, Oulton Broad at around 9am in Janaury 2010 when two robbers, with their faces hidden by hats and scarves, entered the premises, Ipswich Crown Court heard yesterday.

One of the robbers, Damien Rimmer, 29, approached Mr Patel brandishing a kitchen knife while the other man went to the rear of the shop where Mrs Patel was working in the post office area, said Andrew Shaw, prosecuting.

Mr Patel had reached under the counter and picked up a bottle of squash to defend himself and, as Rimmer moved forward holding the knife in front of him, Mr Patel had bravely tried to grab the weapon, said Mr Shaw. Rimmer told him to stay where he was or he would kill him and when Mr Patel tried to get to the rear of the shop to look after his wife, Rimmer had tried to hit him with a plastic bottle of milk.

As Mr Patel made his way to the back of the store the second robber came towards him with banknotes in his arms. Mr Patel tried to stop the man leaving, causing him to drop some of the notes. The robbers had left the store with money and made off in a stolen Land Rover.

Rimmer, of Liverpool, admitted conspiracy to rob and was jailed for four years. Judge Peter Thompson ordered the sentence to run consecutively to a 42-month sentence imposed in June last year.

Will Rose, for Rimmer, said his client had got involved in the robbery because he was being threatened by a drugs gang he owed money to. He said that �5,000 of the stolen money was recovered from the getaway vehicle.