A “DANGEROUS” armed robber who stabbed his victim with a kitchen knife has been jailed for six years.

Colum Flaherty, formerly of Paradise Street, Oxford, was given an extended prison sentence by a judge who said he poses a serious risk to the public.

Prosecutor John Law told Oxford Crown Court the 30-year-old attacked Daniel O’Dong as he was walking in Woodin’s Way, Oxford, at about 11.30pm on July 12 last year.

The barrister said Flaherty walked past his victim before turning and grabbing him from behind.

Mr Law said he tried to steal a laptop bag Mr O’Dong was carrying, without realising it was empty.

The prosecutor said during this altercation Flaherty’s victim fell to the ground and received a stab wound to his forearm from a kitchen knife his attacker had brought with him.

He added that a second robber, Sean Brown, grabbed the empty laptop bag while Flaherty took £65 in cash from his victim’s pockets.

Mr Law said Mr O’Dong received a lacerated nerve in his arm that required plastic surgery and has left him with a permanent scar. He added that Flaherty has 11 previous convictions for 25 offences, including two previous robberies and a charge of making threats to kill his wife, for which he was jailed for 20 months in 2012.

Graham Bennett, defending, said after he was released from prison his client had tried to turn his life around while living with his mother, but had lapsed back into taking Class A drugs.

He said: “This was an offence that was committed to raise money for his addiction.”

Judge Peter Ross said after reading a report from the probation service he had decided that Flaherty, because of his willingness to use a knife during the robbery and failure to deal with his drug problem, was a dangerous offender.

He said: “It is tragic that, despite your mother’s best efforts, the period after your release from your last sentence ended in disaster.”

Flaherty pleaded guilty to robbery, unlawful wounding and possessing a bladed article in a public place.

Judge Ross jailed him for six years, of which he will serve two thirds in custody, with an additional four years on licence. Brown was found guilty after a trial and jailed for three years and nine months for robbery.