A DRUG addict who held a large knife to the throat of a female staff member during a terrifying robbery at Greggs on Great Horton Road, Bradford, has been jailed for four years and three months.

Daniel Wills grabbed the women by the hair, span her round, marched her to the till and forced her to open it, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

She thought he was going to fatally slit her throat with the big sharp kitchen knife, prosecutor Jade Edwards said.

The robbery on August 13 had led to changes in employment practices at Greggs premises in Bradford, with staff members keeping one another in their eyeline, the court was told.

It had left the victim fearful and withdrawn instead of being happy, sociable and outgoing.

Wills, 31, of Manneville Terrace, Great Horton, pleaded guilty to robbery of bank notes and possession of a knife as an offensive weapon.

The woman was at first too petrified to be able to open the till. When she succeeded, Wills snatched the cash and made off.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Police set up a cordon outside the Greggs outlet after the robbery Police set up a cordon outside the Greggs outlet after the robbery (Image: T&A)

He was pursued on foot by a woman who challenged him and he swung the knife at a man who confronted him.

He escaped into a disused building and climbed on to the roof, giving himself up when firearms officers arrived.

Ken Green said in mitigation that Wills had been addicted to drugs for most of his life and begged on the streets and shoplifted to buy them.

He was spending £200 a day on cocaine and heroin. He didn’t have a job and resorted to crime to fund his habit.

He felt shame and disgust about the suffering he has caused.

Wills had 38 previous convictions for 71 offences, including possession of a bladed article.

Recorder Tahir Khan KC said the earlier knife offence was a serious aggravating feature of the robbery, as was Wills’ long record of previous convictions.

He grabbed the woman from behind by the hair and continued to keep hold of it while putting the knife to her throat. She was clearly terrified and thought she was going to die.

The woman’s female colleague was also terrified by what she saw.

“This was extreme violence used against a vulnerable female,” Recorder Khan said.

She was still greatly affected by the ordeal, being constantly on edge and needing to be taken to and from work by family members.

Wills had brandished the knife at two people who tried to confront him when he was running away.