A machete-wielding bandit's appeal was quashed in the Court of Appeals this week.

Neville James Woods, 33, of Curving Avenue in Pembroke, appealed a five-and-a-half year sentence for the daytime raid of Island Hi Coffee on August 31 last year.

His lawyer Elizabeth Christopher said the trial judge, Chief Justice Austin Ward, did not take into account the manner in which Woods held the machete during the robbery and the fact he did not slash two people who chased him during the incident.

Ms Christopher called the sentence "very high" although the maximum penalty for aggravated robbery is 14 years imprisonment. She argued that a sentence "in the range of four years" was appropriate, citing cases in London.

But Court of Appeal President Sir James Astwood said: "People are running around with machetes and guns. This is only a 21-square-mile island. It's a greater pressure to us, it seems, than having someone running around London.''

The court then confirmed the sentence.