A 13-year-old boy who tried to rob a newsagents with his gun-toting friend was not punished harshly enough, according to the pregnant newsagent owner left traumatised by the ordeal.

The boy, who was 12, was pressured into joining a 16- year-old boy in robbing Quality Choice Store, in New Malden, on June 10, Kingston’s youth court heard, when he pleaded guilty to attempted robbery on Wednesday, September 22.

The gun was a toy gun, but Li Zuo, 32, who was working behind the counter at the time, said she had no idea if it contained bullets or not.

Despite this, her brave colleague Raven Darakumar, 31, grabbed the gun, and the teenager’s arms, before chasing them out of the store and holding the 12-year-old until police arrived.

Mr Darakumar was initially arrested because he was still holding the gun when police arrived, but was later told he had done well and hailed a hero.

The boy immediately admitted the robbery and gave police the name of his friend, but no further action was taken against the older boy.

When the court asked the teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, how he thought the shop keeper felt, he said: “Nasty.”

Dressed in a white polo shirt, jeans and trainers, he admitted he had found the whole court experience “terrible”, and his youth worker told the court the stress of it had caused him to skip school in the week-long build-up.

Defence solicitor Trudy Maduro told the court: “He has never been in a place like this before and does not want to again. He has found the whole process very scary and could not wait for it all to be over.”

Magistrates gave him a six-month referral order, which requires him to attend youth offender panel meetings in the hope it will prevent re-offending.

Mrs Zuo said: “I do not think that is fair at all.

"You cannot say he is just a young boy because he did this professionally.

"It really shocked me. No one can give enough them punishment. I think they should be in jail.

"It was extremely scary because I was three months pregnant at the time and was scared about the baby. Even now I do not feel safe.

"They do not know how much they hurt me. Any woman, pregnant or not, would spend their whole life scared and even now, when I walk down the street, if I see a young boy I just want to get away from him."

Since the robbery, the shop has had sensors fitted so staff can hear when customers enter the shop, and the owners have hired extra staff so Miss Zuo does not have to work alone.