A PROMISING young actor is facing jail after lying about his part in a robbery of a village store.

Daniel Mark Killen, 18, was an employee at Wigginton Village Stores when the robbery took place in March this year.

Killen had claimed the robber threw him to the floor before forcing his way into a back room and making off with almost £2,000. But now he is facing jail after admitting he was not a victim of the crime but an accomplice of “robber” Richard James Philip Caygill, 20.

Ann-Marie Jeffery, who owns the store with her husband, Nick, has told The Press of her feeling of betrayal after Killen watched her son cry as he lied about the robbery.

Mrs Jeffery said: “The worst thing was that he stood and watched my 12-year-old son crying and sobbing because we had been burgled. He knew then it wasn’t anybody we didn’t know. And then just to continue working...

“Dan got friendly with the family and our children couldn’t believe it when I told them it was him. The customers in the shop couldn’t believe it and all the staff were in total shock,” Mrs Jeffery said.

Killen, of Hawthorn Terrace, New Earswick, continued to work at the storeafter the burglary and he even told The Press after the event: “I do not think, even now, I have come to terms with it.”

Mrs Jeffery said that Killen then had the nerve to accept further support at work. “On a couple of shifts my husband went in with him after 9pm to keep him company and give him support, which obviously wasn’t needed.”

Mrs Jeffery said they employed Killen to work at the shop in November after his sister worked for them during the summer before she went to university.

“We know his family and his family are lovely. I feel very sorry for his mother. It’s just two local lads. Both my husband and I were born and bred locally and you just wouldn’t expect that to happen in a village community. You want to be able to trust people, but you lose faith in human nature,” she said.

Killen was a budding actor and a member of the Flying Ducks Youth Theatre based in Haxby.

He was cast as the Sheriff of Nottingham in the group’s last major production, Hood The Musical, performed at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre in York in April 2009.

He also played Chad in the group’s performance of High School Musical in March 2008 and has performed with the Rowntree Players.

Mrs Jeffery said: “I just think he’s been young and silly and I hope he’s learnt his lesson.”

After the burglary, Killen told The Press how the masked robber had pushed past him.

“His face was covered and he was walking pretty quickly. Pretty much immediately he went round to the back of the shop and dived into the back room where we keep money and stock,” he said.

“I followed him round and when I got to him he had just found what he was looking for.

“He grabbed it and shoved me out of the way and then legged it.”

Killen pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice by giving a false witness statement to police, a crime which carries a maximum sentence of life.

He and Caygill, of Calvert Close, pleaded guilty to burglary, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years. Neither one previously had a criminal record.

Judge John Swanson adjourned sentencing for probation service reports on both men.

He gave them bail, but warned them they could be jailed on their return on June 14.