A DRUG addict who tried to rob a grocery store worker at knifepoint was rugby tackled by the victim’s brother when he fled empty-handed.

Leroy Earlington, 55, used a scarf to cover his lower face and armed himself with Swiss Army-type knife before he confronted Shanaz Khan as she worked behind the counter at the Kharri Sharif store in Whetley Hill nearly a year ago.

Bradford Crown Court heard how Earlington, of Westfield Road, Heaton, demanded £20 during the early evening attack, but Miss Khan bravely stopped him reaching over the till to grab the cash.

Prosecutor Ken Green said her brother Reis came running over from another part of the store and he pursued Earlington as he fled.

“Reis Khan in fact managed to rugby tackle him to the ground,” said Mr Green.

“But the defendant was able to escape the clutches Mr Khan.”

Earlington was later arrested from a description and his DNA was also found on a coat button which had been left at the scene

The court heard that Earlington, who also has mental health issues, had last been convicted of an offence in 2003.

In a victim impact statement Miss Khan described how the crime last December had left her feeling scared and vulnerable.

She said she had suffered nightmares about the incident and could no longer go in the shop due to the distress it caused her.

Earlington pleaded guilty to the attempted robbery charge and his solicitor advocate Safter Salam urged Judge Jonathan Rose to consider suspending the prison sentence.

Mr Salam said his client must have been suffering from his mental health condition when he went into the store, but he accepted that was exacerbated by Earlington voluntary intake of drugs. But Judge Rose said the offence was not caused by Earlington’s undoubted mental illness. “It was caused by your addiction to drugs,” he told Earlington.

“You are sustaining yourself by barely eating because you divert your funds, your legitimate funds, to drugs.”

The judge said Miss Khan had not suffered “no or minimal psychological harm”.

“She can’t go back to work. She can’t sleep. She’s upset 10 months after the incident,” he noted. “So-called corner shops like this one are vulnerable. They open long hours to serve the community. They are often manned by only one individual, male or female,” said the judge.

“They are perceived as vulnerable and soft and easy targets and I am satisfied that is how you perceived this particular target.”

The judge said Earlington would have been jailed for four years after a trial, but his guilty plea meant his sentence was reduced to three years in jail.