SHOP assistants in two Hampshire stores were held up at knifepoint by the same man on two consecutive days.
Robber Matthew Giles was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and delusions chiefly centred around devil worship.
The 30-year-old first targeted Henri Lloyd in Lymington where he was seen acting suspiciously before approaching cashier David Forst.
Producing a knife with a six-inch blade, he demanded, “Give me the money from the till.”
The shop assistant remained calm, complied and Giles left with about £90 in notes and coins.
Frank Richardson, prosecuting at Southampton Crown Court, said Giles next went to a Basingstoke branch of One Stop where he approached a female assistant who thought he was about to purchase an item when he reached into his pocket.
Instead he produced a knife she estimated as being about 30cm in length. He fled with about £130 from a till.
Pre-planned Mr Richardson said the robberies had pre-planning and one of three shop assistants serving in One Stop at the time, had since given up her job.
Giles, of Shirley High Street, Southampton, admitted two counts of robbery and was ordered to be detained at Ravenswood House where he is already being treated.
Psychiatrist David Morton said he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and thought people were conspiring against him.
He had conspiratorial and delusional beliefs mostly centred around devil worshipping.
Giles, he added, was responding to treatment and his hostility and anger had considerably reduced.
