Canterbury’s top police officer hopes the jailing of a teenager who robbed a Christchurch shop worker with a BB gun and glorified the crime by filming it will make other young offenders think twice.

The teenager, who already had a criminal history, was sentenced to three years behind bars this week.

He was part of a group of offenders who stormed the Maltworks store on Port Hills Road in Heathcote in November, as first reported by chrislynchmedia.com.

The worker was ordered to lie on the floor at gunpoint while the group spent about four minutes stealing cigarettes, vapes, and the till, before fleeing in a stolen vehicle that was later found abandoned at the corner of Murdoch Street and Brookside Terrace.

Security footage showed one offender carrying an iron bar, while another held what appeared to be the BB gun in one hand and filmed the robbery with a cellphone in the other.

Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill told chrislynchmedia.com the sentence should resonate with young people contemplating similar crimes.

“It is a serious crime, and what makes it even worse is the filming of this and posting it,” Hill said.

“What I’m really hoping is that others like him who are contemplating this type of offending are listening to that news and thinking that could happen to them, and will think again before going out and doing these things. It’s a horrendous crime which is made even worse by putting it online.”

The worker told chrislynchmedia.com at the time he was traumatised by the ordeal, while store owner Nilay Dhameliya said the attack came after a year and a half without serious incidents, prompting him to reinstall the security bars he had removed because he finally felt safe.

Hill said the result would also be welcomed by frontline staff.

“They’re working really hard apprehending these offenders. They’re really clear about what our role is. They leave the courts to make their decisions, but our job is about putting the best evidence before the court to tell the court the level of offending being done by the individual.”

The sentencing comes as Canterbury police deal with a rise in overnight offending, including a series of burglaries, stolen cars, a vehicle set alight in Hornby, and crime across Halswell over the weekend.

“We’re going through a small spate at the moment of offending of this nature, not so much the robberies but definitely burglaries, so we’re working really hard to wrap that crew up right now,” Hill said.