A MAN was handed a two-year prison sentence after blackmailing a mother-of-two and driving while disqualified.

Jonathan Mitchell, of Bennett Road, Faringdon, was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court yesterday.

The 27-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of blackmailing Louise Collins on September 8 last year, as well as two counts of driving while disqualified on September 8 and September 10, 2014.

Prosecutor Paul Fairley said Mitchell moved into Ms Collins’ two-storey house in Tower View, Faringdon, with his partner last year.

He said on September 7 Ms Collins, who lived with her five-year-old twins, asked the pair to leave her home after finding what she thought was two bags of heroin stashed in the pair’s bedroom.

Mr Fairley said Mitchell phoned Ms Collins the next morning “screaming and shouting” after asking her to give him £320 of his wages which had been paid into her bank account.

The prosecution barrister said Ms Collins later found Mitchell in her garden, holding a large concrete slab over his head, which he threw at the house’s patio doors.

Mr Fairley said Mitchell then entered the property and stole Ms Collins’ 40-inch Hitachi television.

He added: “She said she was quite clearly very worried about what he was going to do. She described being scared for her life at the point she feels he was about to hit her with the concrete slab.”

Mr Fairley said Mitchell then left the house but returned shortly after while Ms Collins was phoning the police. The prosecution barrister said Mitchell tried to take the phone off her before driving off without a licence with the television.

He said Mitchell was stopped by police while driving in the Midlands on September 10, where he told officers he had been disqualified from driving.

Defence barrister Nigel Daly said Ms Collins’ “refused to pay” the money back and caused Mitchell to “lose his temper”. He added: “Perhaps she did fear for her life but he certainly did not threaten her with it [the slab of concrete].”

Judge Zoe Smith said: “This was clearly a very frightening incident for Ms Collins.”