A thief who threatened a shopper in Wallingford at knife-point before stealing her car has been jailed for eight years.

Graeme Jarman, 39, approached Rosalyn Jennings as she loaded bags into her Vauxhall Astra at the Cattle Market car park, in Wood Street.

He produced a 4in vegetable knife when she refused to hand over her keys.

Oxford Crown Court heard on April 25 that Ms Jennings feared her legs would be slashed and eventually handed over the keys. Jarman fled in the car.

Three days later, Jarman was driving the stolen Astra when he was caught on CCTV at a filling station after failing to pay for petrol worth nearly £27.

He was later caught by the police, who found a knife in the driver's door compartment. Jarman yesterday admitted theft of the car and the petrol.

The court heard Jarman was on licence after being released 11 years into a 15-year prison sentence for robbery and indecent assault when he committed the thefts.

Sentencing Jarman to eight years, Judge Julian Hall said the jail term included the final four years of the previous 15-year sentence.

Jarman had been released from prison a year before he stole Ms Jennings's car on April 11 last year.

Antony McGeorge, defending, said Jarman, who had moved to Oxfordshire from Durham after his release, had been sleeping rough before the robbery and stole the car to find warmth.

But Judge Hall told Jarman: "You terrified this woman and made her think she'd be attacked."