A MAN who robbed a fast-food restaurant left his victims shaken and anxious.
A staff member at Burger King in Above Bar Street was forced to "take time off work" and now suffers from a “mild case of PTSD”.
Another was thought to be having a panic attack when Wilson Oliveira robbed the branch on September 12 last year.
The 22-year-old held a ten-inch knife to a fake hostage's throat.
He wore a bandana and dark glasses when demanding staff emptied the safe of money..
However, unbeknown to her colleagues, Ana Tavares Da Costa had let him in through a back door and was in on the robbery, Southampton Crown Court heard.
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Both appeared before a judge on Thursday to be sentenced for robbery.
Oliveira, of Romsey Road, faced an additional charge for possessing a bladed article.
Prosecution barrister Simon Foster told how once inside Oliveira demanded the staff members put their phones on the floor and to know where the safe was.
He “made threats he was going to cut Da Costa’s throat”.
After he “pushed” her away, he made off with £2,378 in cash which he told one of his victims to put in a rucksack.
However, when police officers checked CCTV footage from behind the restaurant they saw Da Costa “beckoning” someone over.
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The court heard how Oliveira had met her the day of the robbery and told her he had a knife and planned to go through with the heist with or without her.
At the end of the shift four members of staff - including Da Costa - had gone for a cigarette break.
Da Costa claimed she had “left her phone outside” and went back to open the door.
When police searched her home in Cranbury Avenue they found money in a wardrobe and a hoodie which matched the one worn by Oliveira.
She “immediately said that the person responsible was Oliveira”.
Both had previously pleaded guilty to the charges against them.
Defending barrister Paul Walker said there had been “some degree of immaturity” on Oliveira’s behalf.
Meanwhile, it was argued that Da Costa had been coerced.
Judge Peter Henry jailed Oliveira for 46 months.
Da Costa was given a two-year sentence suspended for two years.
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