John David Ablett, 44, visited a store on Nguyen Trai Street in the city’s District 1 at midnight on February 9, and saw a lone woman employee, Luong My Linh, 25, on duty. He brandished a knife and stole the money from the cash register.

When he left the store, Linh called the police, who chased after him and apprehended him within 100 meters from the store.

He told the court he had been drunk and gone to the convenience store to buy some beer, but came up with the idea of robbery when he saw there was only one woman employee.

"I was unemployed for several months and had no money."

He picked up the knife at a park and brought it along for self defense, Ablett said.

There are around 1,000 convenience stores in HCMC, many open 24 hours with just one or two employees working late without security guards.