Neil Phillips of Durham burgled Fairfax Arms in Gilling East

Police had no idea of the identity of the knifeman who had terrified the pub manager of the Fairfax Arms in Gilling East near Helmsley during the night burglary in 2016, York Crown Court heard.

Then Neil Phillips, 39, flagged down a police car in Newcastle city centre at 3.45am in April this year, said Alex Menary, prosecuting.

He told officers he “wanted to hand himself in for an armed robbery committed in North Yorkshire”.

He told police how during the raid he had pointed a meat cleaver at the pub manager, who had fled.

Phillips had then left the pub empty-handed.

Neil Phillips (Image: North Yorkshire Police)

Defence barrister Ian Brook said Phillips' conscience had been preventing him from sleeping properly. 

“He was consumed with guilt and he simply wanted a fresh start,” said the defence barrister. 

Phillips had worked at the Fairfax Arms for some months before he carried out the break-in.

“This must have been a frightening offence,” Recorder Nicholas Lumley KC told Phillips. “For many years (the manager) must have been wondering whether you were going to come back or where you were.”

Those who worked in the hospitality industry, particularly in rural areas such as Gilling East, were entitled to be protected by the courts, the judge said.

But it was an unusual case because it would have gone undetected but for Phillips handing himself in.

He jailed Phillips for three years and eight months.

Phillips, now of William Street, Bowburn, Durham, pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and carrying a knife in public.

York Crown Court heard that the manager was in the pub late at night on October 30, 2016, because of a problem with the fire alarm.

Mr Menary said Phillips was masked and spoke with what the manager thought was a Slavic or Polish accent.

He had climbed into the building through a kitchen window.

After the confrontation the manager had called police. 

Fairfax Arms, Gilling East (Image: Google Street View)

Mr Brook said Phillips had not expected anyone to be in the Fairfax Arms when he broke in.

He had taken the cleaver to help him get inside and had used it to open a window that was slightly ajar. He had not used it on anybody.

He had been taking cocaine for 15 years and had wanted money from the pub’s till or safe.

But when he got inside he found a padlock stopped him getting to the area where the safe was and so he went to the till.

After the encounter with the pub manager, he had run out, jumped into his car and driven off.

Although he had previous convictions for dishonesty, the last one had been in 2018.

Since the raid he had changed his lifestyle, the court heard.