A "DANGEROUS" drug addict stole £50,000 in jewellery at knifepoint from a Hagley jeweller, before making his getaway in the victim's sportscar.

Daljeet Dhadwal raided Greville Rossiter jewellers in Worcester Road in May last year, threatening the jeweller with a steak knife and saying he would 'get guns'.

The 38-year-old, of Kidderminster Road, Hagley, forced Daniel Singer to lie on the floor with his hands behind his back, and kicked him before making off with the jewellery, which was stored inside three safes.

Dhadwal also stole Mr Singer's iPhone, tore the landline telephone out, took the shop's CCTV recording equipment and drove off in the jeweller's £25,000 Jaguar.

Despite these efforts to cover his tracks, Dhadwal left his fingerprints on the safes, enabling police to identify him.

Now a prisoner at HMP Wormwood Scrubs, Dhadwal admitted robbery, possession of a bladed article and theft, when he appeared at Worcester Crown Court on Friday.

Michael Conry, prosecuting, said Dhadwal had previously sold his mother's gold bangles to the jeweller for £700 and returned on May 2, saying he had more to trade.

When Mr Singer returned from the back office, Dhadwal was holding a six-inch steak knife and demanded the return of the bangles, and the keys to the safes.

Mr Singer said the experience had knocked his confidence and he could no longer be alone in the shop.

"The memory is still quite fresh and I expect it will always be with me" Mr Singer said in a victim personal statement.

Lucy Daniels, defending, said: "[Dhadwal's] psychiatric report gives an insight into a man struggling with drug problems.

"His adult life has been blighted by drug abuse and the criminal lifestyle which goes with it."

In sentencing, Judge Nicolas Cartwright said: "Whilst you committed this offence of robbery at knife point, you told Mr Singer that you would use the knife.

"That was designed to keep him subdued and frightened.

"You made reference to the fact you would be meeting someone with guns."

He said there were significant aggravating features, including his previous convictions, that he gave false details to police, and that the jeweller was alone at the time.

Ruling Dhadwal to be "dangerous", Judge Cartwright sentenced him to seven years in prison for the robbery, plus a three year-extended sentence, 15 months for the bladed article and 18 months for theft of the Jaguar.

Dhadwal must serve at least two thirds of this sentence before he is considered for parole.