A KNIFEPOINT robber who held up an elderly shopkeeper for little more than £50 has been jailed for four years.

Terry Webster, 38, had been on a crack cocaine and alcohol binge and was desperate for money when he carried out the robbery at a Bradford corner shop last November.

Prosecutor Jon Gregg told Bradford Crown Court today that Robert Hall, who was aged about 70, was "pottering" around his shop, RW and S Newsagents in Fern Street, Dudley Hill, when Webster entered.

The defendant shouted: "Give us the money. Open the till. Don't be a hero."

He produced a knife, threatened to use it, and brandished it in front of Mr Hall's face.

Mr Gregg said Webster threw up his hands in exasperation and disappointment when he saw the till was not "chock full of notes".

He fled with £59 after a young woman customer with a toddler child came into the shop.

He told her: "Move out of my way before someone gets hurt."

He left his blood on the cash till and was later identified by the woman customer.

Webster, of Rushmoor Road, Holme Wood, Bradford, pleaded guilty to robbery.

He had two previous convictions for possessing an offensive weapon.

His barrister, Nick Worsley, said Webster was now a different man to the one who committed the offence.

Mr Worsley said his client had been taking crack cocaine and drinking alcohol, partly in response to the death of his father, before the offence.

But since he had been in custody he had reduced his use of methadone, studied for qualifications, taken drug and alcohol courses, become a trustee and supervised prisoners with special needs.

Sentencing Webster, Judge Mark Savill said the shop owner was on his own and such premises were often vulnerable to people like the defendant.

He said: "You needed money. You took a kitchen knife and went out to get that money by whatever means you could."

Judge Savill added: "You must realise now that if knives are brandished somebody can be killed.

"You removed the sum total of £59. I'll ask you whether you really think it was worth what you did. It must have been a terrifying experience for the shopkeeper and the young woman, let alone her toddler child."

Judge Savill acknowledged Webster was plainly a different man since. He had taken steps to move on, was using his time in prison wisely, and had expressed genuine remorse.

He added: "Sometimes, regrettably, it takes something as serious as this to make someone realise they can't live their life the way they have."

And jailing him for four years he went on: "I have a duty to protect shopkeepers such as this, and send out a message that offending of this sort cannot, and will not, be tolerated."