A man has been jailed for three years after a court heard he held a knife to the throat of a “terrified” attempted robbery victim in a Kidderminster flat.

Billy Cornes, 28, of Elgar Avenue, Malvern, admitted attempting to rob Christopher Price of his car keys and money.

Cornes was already in jail for an assault when he appeared via video link from Stafford Prison to be sentenced at Worcester Crown Court.

Alex Warren, prosecuting, said Mr Price, 30, of Avon Road, Kidderminster, was invited into neighbour Pearly Hodgkins’s flat after he returned home just after 1am on May 30.

She said he could “earn” £30 if he spoke to her cousins, who were at her flat.

One of the cousins, Cornes, said he would give Mr Price £30 if he gave him a lift.

But Mr Price refused and he also declined a suggestion that he should go to a cash point to withdraw some money before returning to his own flat.

Mr Warren added that, later, Miss Hodgkins called at Mr Price’s flat and he then agreed to go to get some money before going to a friend’s home, returning to the communal entrance of the Avon Road flats at 4am.

He was again invited into Mrs Hodgkins’s flat, where Cornes grabbed his jacket and held a kitchen knife, with a sharp six to seven inch long blade, to Mr Price’s throat, demanding his car keys.

Mr Price was “terrified”, said Mr Warren, but Mrs Hodgkins intervened to take the knife from Cornes, receiving a slight cut to her finger in the process.

Cornes then threatened to knock Mr Price out, saying he wanted money.

But Mr Price opened a window, climbed out and ran off to call police.

Jason Patel, defending, said Cornes, who had two children of his own and two step daughters, had far too much to drink that night and Mr Price had kept offering heroin, which he did not want as he was a previous addict.

Judge Daniel Pearce-Higgins QC said it was a “sustained” assault with a weapon and it came at a time when Cornes was out on licence from prison for an assault offence.