Canterbury Crown Court, where Jason Hall was sentenced

EXCLUSIVE

by Paul Hooper

A former soldier was offered £20 for sex by a female friend – but then failed to perform.

Jason Hall, 42, was high on a cocktail of drink and drugs and needed the cash for more dope.

But the ex-squaddie turned nasty after the botched sex session, Canterbury Crown Court heard.

Hall, of MacDonald Road, Dover, grabbed a knife and turned on lover Ann Woodbridge.

Prosecutor John Keal told how he put the knife to her throat and said: "Give me your money or I will slit your throat."

Hall then punched her in the face and shouted: "Give me your money or I will cut your eyes out."

He then threatened her again until she handed over £20, the court heard.

Hall, a former Royal Signals soldier for seven years who saw service in Northern Ireland and The Gulf, was jailed for four years after admitting robbery.

Mr Keal said Hall and Miss Woodbridge knew each other well and that she had given him £10 earlier in the evening so he could buy drugs.

"Later in the evening, the two then went to her bedroom with the purpose of them engaging in consensual sex," he said.

"This didn't occur, however, and she ascribes him being unable to perform any sexual activity because of the amount he had to drink and also the drugs."

Ms Woodbridge then saw him "rifling through" her jeans "in reference to an earlier conversation about if he slept with her, would she give him £20?", Mr Keal added.

After the bust-up, Ms Woodbridge tried to escape but was punched in the face as she screamed for help, the court heard.

The police were called and arrested Hall when he returned to the flat "somewhat intoxicated", said Mr Keal.

Hall later claimed the two had "consensual sex because she would pay him £20" and then she behaved "like a banshee lashing out".

Oliver Saxby, defending, said: "He regrets what happened. He accepts it was a nasty offence that came about when someone who was heavily reliant on drugs didn't get his way and on the spur of the moment, lost it."

Judge Philip St John-Stevens told him: "You threatened someone with a knife in their own bedroom. You threatened to take their money – the sum you took is irrelevant."

He also banned Hall from contacting Miss Woodbridge for seven years.