A WOULD-BE robber held a shop assistant at knife-point before fleeing empty-handed, a court heard today.

Oxford Crown Court heard Harwinder Sangha, 36, tried to rob Simply Drinks in Banbury last December.

Sangha, who admitted assault with intent to rob, grabbed the shop assistant's jumper before being disturbed by another employee.

Jane Davies, prosecuting, said Sangha entered the shop on December 27 and threatened the shop assistant with an eight-inch knife.

She said: "He grabbed her by her jumper and asked her to get the money out of the till."

Miss Davies said the shop assistant was reluctant to return to work after the incident and her daughter had also been traumatised by what she heard.

Lucy Tapper, defending, said Sangha, of Samuelson Court, Banbury, had been diagnosed with severe depression and a personality disorder.

She said he had been addicted to heroin and methadone, but had passed his drug tests since being in prison on remand.

Miss Tapper said: "He was a desperate man at a very, very low ebb indeed."

Judge Antonio Bueno adjourned sentencing until May 23, but warned Sangha he faced a "substantial" jail sentence.