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A knife-wielding raider tried to rob a shop after his childhood sweetheart told him she had become a lesbian, a court heard.

Craig Rock said he hit the bottle after his partner broke up with him, falsely claimed he was not the father of their child and announced her apparent change in sexuality.

He went out with a knife to rob a shop high on drink and tablets in the wake of this triple whammy of heartache, said his lawyer Simon Walker.

He pulled out the weapon and shouted “give me the money or I’ll stab you” to the proprietor of the Mini Food Store on Clarendon Road, central Middlesbrough.

The shop owner, who had worked at the store for 15 years, feared for his life and his wife’s safety, Teesside Crown Court heard.

He shouted at Rock to get out at 6.30pm on April 14, said prosecutor Rachel Masters.

Rock advanced on the victim, repeated his demands and threats, but ran off empty-handed after the shop owner managed to open the back door.

Police found him “flat out” on the ground nearby and initially thought he was simply a local drunk, said Mr Walker.

He pulled out the knife, put it to his own throat and threatened to hurt himself.

Rock told officers: “I did it. Tell the judge maximum sentence.”

He used insulting racist language as he confessed to robbing the store proprietor.

The defendant said he was “off his head” on sleeping tablets because he had personal and financial problems, and left his home planning to commit a robbery.

He claimed he could not remember anything after taking the tablets but apologised for what he did.

He had been to the store for an apparent “reconnaissance” earlier that day, said a judge.

Rock, of no fixed address, admitted attempted robbery and having an offensive weapon.

He had 15 previous offences including theft and burglary and was under a community order at the time.

In his defence, Mr Walker said: “This offence was committed at the time when he was perhaps at his lowest ever ebb.

“He had broken up with his childhood sweetheart. She was denying him access to his child.

“She went further and said he wasn’t the father and, further still, said “I’m now a lesbian”.

“He reacted to that situation in an entirely inappropriate and disgusting way.

“He would love the opportunity to be able to turn the clock back.

"He wouldn’t have done this if he hadn’t taken the cocktail of tablets and drink.”

He said the robbery attempt was out of character and Rock’s violence was directed against himself.

A DNA test proved he was in fact the baby’s father and the child had been brought to visit him inside.

A psychiatrist said he had an “unstable personality disorder” with difficulty managing anger and poor coping mechanisms.

He had already spent more than five months on remand and found this first time in prison very difficult.

Mr Walker said Rock expressed remorse, pleaded guilty immediately wanting to go to prison to “get his head sorted out”, and would love to apologise to the shopkeeper.

Judge John Walford said Rock was a persistent offender who reacted badly to “a number of problems”.

But he said Rock terrified the shop owner by brandishing the knife and making persistent threats, and such vulnerable traders would be protected by the courts.

The judge jailed Rock for three years.