A Worcester man who snatched a £7,615 tray of rings after headbutting an assistant at a Droitwich jewellers has been locked up for four years.

The raid on Salina Sales in St Andrew's Street showed a degree of planning, said Judge Alistair McCreath at Worcester Crown Court.

Stuart Halliday, 25, of Vicarage Court, St Paul's Street, who pleaded guilty to robbery, also admitted a break-in at Midland Stock Disposals in Worcester on June 24, where he stole a patio heater.

The ring-snatch was on August 20, said prosecutor Neil Chawla. Halliday had gone into the shop pretending to be looking for a platinum ring.

When assistant Carol Nicklin turned her back, Halliday substituted a cheaper ring but she spotted the deception so he headbutted her and ran off with the tray of rings.

He was identified on CCTV and arrested five days later. He claimed he had carried out the raid while under duress from drug dealers.

Halliday had previous convictions for burglary, robbery and affray, the court was told.

Defence counsel Gareth Walters submitted that the amount of violence used was minimal and that Halliday had not used a weapon. Neverless, the robbery had had a significant psychological affect on the victim.

Judge McCreath said that while the probation service considered Halliday posed an extreme risk of re-offending, he had taken the "marginal" decision not to classify him as a 'dangerous offender'.