A DRUGGED-UP man who armed himself with a screwdriver and a needle in an attempt to rob an off-licence has been jailed for three years and four months.

James Hancox pointed the screwdriver at Prince Sabhawal, who was working alone in Alco Save in High Street, Queensbury, at 8.30pm on March 9, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Hancox demanded: “I need some money. Give me your till,” prosecutor Alisha Kaye said on Tuesday.

He then asked for £20 and a bottle of whisky, but Mr Sabhawal refused to hand over anything.

He feared Hancox would stab him with the screwdriver and grabbed a shutter hook to defend himself with.

“The defendant then said ‘If you hit me, you will go to prison’,” Miss Kaye told the court.

Hancox, 41, of High Street, Queensbury, racially abused Mr Sabhawal and picked up a crate of beer and threatened to smash it over his head.

The shopkeeper moved round him, got out of the store and locked Hancox in.

When he returned with help from a neighbouring business, Hancox was behind the counter trying to force open the till. He picked up the shutter hook, raised it above his head and grabbed a bottle of whisky.

The police arrived and had to CS Gas Hancox to restrain and apprehend him.

Hancox made full and frank admissions to the police, saying he had taken £120 worth of heroin and crack cocaine before setting out to rob the shop.

He confessed to targeting the store and arming himself with a screwdriver and a needle.

Hancox pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and racially aggravated threatening behaviour.

Mr Sabhawal, who had worked hard to build up his business, was now worried about being in the shop on his own, the court was told.

Julian White, Hancox’s solicitor advocate, said it was a very sad case.

Hancox had suffered mental health difficulties from a very young age, battling hard over the years to stay off drugs.

His supportive family were devastated by what had happened.

Hancox had taken cannabis as a teenager and that had escalated to Class A drug addiction.

Now in custody on remand, he had resisted the temptation to take drugs in prison and was teaching fellow inmates literacy skills.

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, told Hancox: “You had given yourself to your addiction with profound consequences.”

Hancox was “out of his mind” on drugs when he armed himself with a needle and a screwdriver intending to rob the shop.

“This is an exceptionally grave crime,” Judge Durham Hall said, praising Mr Sabharwal for his “poise and coolness” in the face of a persistent attempt to rob him.