A FORMER soldier who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder was given a 34-month prison sentence for carrying out a knifepoint robbery at a Malvern shop.

At Hereford Crown Court, David Stallard, aged 27, was sentenced for the offence, having pleaded guilty earlier this year.

The court was told that Stallard had robbed the Wine Rack in Barnards Green in October 2010, while serving a suspended sentence for a similar offence a year earlier.

Michael Garrett, for the prosecution, said that on October 31, 2010, Stallard’s father had called the police to the family home near Barnards Green because his son’s behaviour had become so erratic. But by the time police arrived, Stallard had left the house and had gone to the Wine Rack in Barnards Green.

He threatened the clerk with a knife and escaped with about £150.

Charles Hamer, for Stallard, said he had been in the Royal Artillery, which included service in Iraq, and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. He began drinking and taking drugs.

But since his arrest for the robbery last year, he had abstained from drink and drugs.

Mr Hamer said: “His family have asked me to say that they are concerned that this ex-soldier, who has served Queen and country in Iraq, has not had the kind of support he should have had since he was discharged from the service, and they feel there has been a failure on the part of the authorities.”

Judge Andrew Lockhart sentenced Stallard to serve two months from his previous suspended sentence and a further 32 months for the robbery, to be served consecutively, and 12 months for possessing a knife, to be served concurrently.

He said that although Stallard was entitled to credit for his guilty pleas and his attempts to deal with his problems, a custodial sentence was inevitable because it was a second offence, an escalation of his previous offence and because of the fear caused to the clerk, who has suffered panic attacks.