A father-of-two jailed for holding up a petrol station has had his sentence extended – after applying to have it cut.

Joshua Thomas, of Tarragon Road, Barming was told his application to reduce his term was "hopeless".

Three senior judges at the Court of Appeal then gave the 24-year-old an extra month for wasting the court's time.

Thomas is serving four years after carrying out an early-morning raid with an accomplice on the Parkfoot garage in West Malling.

He pleaded guilty to robbery and theft at the London Road station and two minor driving offences and was in breach of an earlier conditional discharge for drug possession.

The appeal court heard Thomas and his accomplice went into the petrol station at 4am on February 17 last year and demanded money from two young members of staff.

The pair were shouting and screaming and ordered the terrified workers to open the safe.

When the staff protested they didn’t have access to the safe, Thomas jumped over the counter and shoved one of them into a back office.

He told the man he had a knife and threatened to slash him with it if his demands weren’t met.

Eventually the robbers left, loaded with coins and cigarettes, but were identified from CCTV footage and arrested.

After being detained, Thomas accompanied police to a wooded area near North Pole Road between Barming and Wateringbury where some of the stolen items were recovered.

The court heard Thomas had taken a bottle of wine from the same petrol station a week before the raid.

During an initial hearing, Thomas expressed his shame and read out a letter of apology to the garage staff.

Dismissing his appeal, Mr Justice Blake, sitting with Lord Justice Simon and Judge Anthony Leonard QC, said: “We conclude that there is no basis at all for suggesting that this sentence was manifestly excessive.”