An irate motorist has been jailed for 15 months for threatening two teenage boys with a screwdriver in a robbery after his car was pelted with snowballs.

Furious Anzar Ali gave chase and slashed one youth on the cheek after his vision was obscured by snow and he skidded, Bradford Crown Court heard today.

Ali, 26, of Northfield Place, Manningham, Bradford, pleaded guilty to robbing one teenager of his phone and jacket and attempting to rob the other on January 9 this year.

The court heard he seized one of the teenagers, aged 16 and 17, and pulled him towards him.

He accused them of snowballing his car and scratched one on the face and neck with the screwdriver. The court heard Ali shouted: “I’ve just come out of prison. I’ll stab you, give me your money.”

He was arrested after he was traced by his car registration.

Ali told the police he saw the boys laughing at him after his car skidded.

His barrister, David Taylor, said he was a family man whose actions were out of character.

“He over-reacted. It was a silly and stupid act,” Mr Taylor said. “A serious lesson has been learned by him for such an impulsive act.”

Ali had taken an anger management course while remanded in custody.

Judge Peter Benson accepted that Ali thought the teenagers were responsible for snowballing his car. He said: “You over-reacted in a very serious way.”