A 19-year-old man was arrested in Swansea, in Wales, after he held up a local takeout joint with a knife, demanding free fries (or as the Brits call them, “chips”). Matthew Hawkins was obviously drunk when he decided to waltz up to the counter of the Yummies Pizza and Kebab shop and start making “stabbing motions” with a 9-inch knife and issuing threats.
- It was all because he wanted free fries. Keep in mind that fries only cost $2, but Matthew Hawkins was having none of it. When the staff told him that he was welcome to buy some, he replied, “I want free chips. Hurry up or I’m going to cut you.” Class act! This back and forth went on for roughly 15 minutes.
- At least he was prepared to wait? After the 15-minute standoff, Hawkins grew weary of arguing with staff and decided that he was going to go stage another robbery and then he’d come back for those fries. Before leaving, he told staff members, “I’m going to [expletive] rob next door – then I’m coming back for my chips.” So long, Hawkins!
- He then went next store to rob them. Hawkins next headed into a convenience store called Best One next door with his knife and attempted to rob them but got nothing. Incidentally, an employee from the takeout place next door followed him and locked him in while they waited for South Wales police to show up on the scene.
- Matthew Hawkins wasn’t going down without a fight. When cops arrived, they apparently found Hawkins banging on the door of Best One, shouting, “Give me my f*****g chips!” Instead, all he got was arrested and now a criminal record moving forward.
- Wales takes this kind of crime seriously. Hawkins did admit two counts of robbery and one count of possessing a blade at Swansea Crown Court and was sentenced to three years in a young offenders institute, which is pretty intense. He also has several restraining orders against him which ban him from contacting any of his victims again for the next five years. As Judge Paul Thomas QC told Hawkins, his threats “scared the living daylights” out of the victims. “The courts have a duty to protect workers in small businesses who were vulnerable to such attacks,” he added.
