A determined supermarket robber who bit a shop assistant’s hand when he tried to stop him making off with a wad of cash from the till has been jailed for three years.

Fojlu Miah was tackled by Ibrar Afzal when he grabbed the money at Shans on Alice Street, Keighley.

Miah, of Emily Street, Keighley, pleaded guilty to robbing the shop of almost £270 on December 15 last year.

He was jailed for 30 months, plus six months for breaching a suspended sentence for an affray when a man’s fingers were broken with a metal bar.

Prosecutor Sophie Drake told Bradford Crown Court yesterday that Miah, a heroin addict, gave himself up to the police and told them he was ashamed of what he had done.

He had previous convictions for causing actual bodily harm, wounding and violent disorder.

His solicitor advocate, Nigel Jamieson, said drugs had blighted Miah’s life. He needed money to settle a debt to his dealer.

Miah decided to escape his problems by fleeing to London but changed his mind and turned back at Leeds bus station for the sake of his family.

He had obtained a licence to collect scrap metal in a bid to earn an honest living and he was tackling his drug addiction by voluntarily attending Project Six in Keighley.

Judge Peter Benson told Miah the robbery was made worse by the fact the supermarket’s owners were friends of his family.

He was waiting to be served in the shop when he spotted the open cash drawer and decided to help himself.

When Mr Afzal tried to wrest the stolen money from him, he bit his hand.

Miah then fled, dropping some of the money as he did so.

Judge Benson made an order that £49.61 seized from Miah on his arrest should go towards compensating the supermarket owners.