AN ARMED robber stole a delivery’s driver car at knifepoint after hiding behind the vehicle as pizza was delivered to a home.

Gary McCready has been jailed for eight years after “squandering” chances given to him by the courts.

The 37-year-old of Partridge Green, Pitsea carried out the attack just four months after he was sentenced for an attempted robbery.

On September 27, McCready threatened the man with a knife before taking his car keys and driving off.

He crouched behind the car before yelling at the driver to handover keys in Steeplehall, Pitsea.

He held the knife, said to be nearly ten inches, close to his victim, who feared he was going to be stabbed.

When he drove off, the man’s wallet with £120 cash, and a phone were also inside

Daniel Higgins, prosecuting, read a victim impact statement from the delivery driver.

He said: “Since this happened I don’t like driving anywhere when it’s dark.

“I used to be a confident person, but whenever I get in the car I lock the doors and look around to see if anyone is near me.

“I sleep in the living room as I feel I have to protect my house and my family.”

Robber - Gary McCready was jailed for eight years

Robber - Gary McCready was jailed for eight years

After the robbery, a member of the public called the police who chased him, and he ran from the car and was caught under a park bench.

He later admitted robbery and having a knife at Basildon Crown Court.

In May last year, McCready told Judge Andrew Hurst he was determined to fight his drug addiction and change his ways.

At that time, the judge gave him a suspended sentence for attempted robbery where he grabbed a woman cashier’s wrist at the Tesco store in Mayflower Retail Park in Basildon to try and steal cash.

In July, he was given another suspended sentence for breaching a restraining order by phoning a woman and going to her home.

McCready wrote a letter to the judge saying he was “embarrassed”.

Judge Hurst told him: “It’s wholesale failures and unwillingness to comply at base level and a clear disregard for drug rehabilitation requirements.

“You have no one to blame but yourself. You squandered the opportunities that were presented to you and you face immediate custody of length.”