Joanne Price, 49, was armed with both a knife and a metal bar when she confronted a worker at the convenience store in Barnsley last September, while her daughter Lauren, 28, wielded a similar bar but left the shop when she realised things were ‘getting out of hand’.

The shopkeeper recognised Joanne as a regular customer and she had bought a bag of crisps from him earlier in the day before returning with the weapons.

Sitting at Sheffield Crown Court, Judge Jeremy Richardson agreed to be ‘merciful’ when passing sentence after hearing that Lauren had had a ‘traumatic’ upbringing due to her mother’s heroin addiction. He decided to suspend her prison term while jailing Joanne for four years.

Joanne Price and her daughter Lauren were sentenced together

Both women had pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and possession of an offensive weapon at earlier hearings, and Joanne also admitted possession of a knife.

The court was told that Joanne, who was under the influence of drugs, was the ‘driving force’ behind the crime while Lauren ‘just stood waving the weapon around’ after her mother had told her to do so, before ‘disengaging and withdrawing’ from the scene. Both had their faces covered.

The shopkeeper, whose bravery was commended by Judge Richardson, suffered a cut and Joanne was disarmed before she had managed to steal anything.

The motive for the robbery was to gain money for Joanne to spend on drugs, but neither woman had previous convictions.

Judge Richardson said he would suspend Lauren’s two-year sentence so she could concentrate on looking after her children, aged three and four, but ordered her to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and 25 rehabilitation activity days under the supervision of the probation service.

He said: “You have had a deplorable, baleful life and it is proper for me to show leniency. Joanne Price’s criminality warrants seven years in jail, but due to her mental health difficulties I have reduced the sentence to four.

"Lauren, you volunteered to be part of this, but were embroiled by your mother. For Joanne, things went from bad to worse and she executed the offence with determination and violence. She lunged at the shop worker with a knife.

"Your life has been truly shocking. You had a toxic relationship with your mother, but you should have said no. I hope you look after your children better than your mother looked after you.

"Your partner sounds like a decent fellow. Get a grip of your lives and move on now.”

Both mother and daughter were tearful and emotional as Joanne Price was led from the dock to begin her prison term.

Mother is jailed after 'forcing' daughter to rob Yorkshire convenience store armed with metal bars