A DRUNKEN rugby player who put a 77-year-old Machynlleth man through such a terrifying ordeal he has had to leave his home and live somewhere else has been jailed for 10 years.

Kurt Ethan Jarman (pictured), 21, kept Dilwyn Jones a prisoner in his own home for three hours, punched him, threatened to kill him, cut his neck with a Stanley knife, ransacked his house looking for money and frogmarched him towards a cash point.

But plucky Mr Jones devised a way of escaping.

Jarman, of Bryn y Gôg, Machynlleth, admitted robbery and false imprisonment.

Janet Gedrych, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that Jarman knew Mr Jones was elderly and vulnerable and had a history of victimising him.

On 21 November last year, Jarman had played rugby in Harlech and, according to his barrister, had drunk an extraordinary amount of alcohol on the way back as the coach stopped at various pubs and Jarman swigged from a bottle of port while on board.

Shortly after midnight, said Miss Gedrych, Jarman forced his way into Mr Jones’ home in Penrallt Street.

He punched Mr Jones to the floor and demanded £5,000, threatening to “rip the place apart” unless he got it.

After Mr Jones told him he did not have cash in the house, Jarman carried out his threat, ripping the lining out of jacket pockets, slashing a Chesterfield sofa and pulling pictures off the walls.

Miss Gedrych said that during the three-hour ordeal Jarman held a Stanley knife to Mr Jones’ throat so closely that he actually cut him.

Jarman eventually found Mr Jones’ bank cards, but his victim quickly formulated a way of escaping.

He told Jarman he could not rem­ember the pin numbers, but he knew the sequence and would be able to withdraw money once he was in front of a cash machine.

Miss Gedrych said Mr Jones knew there were CCTV cameras monitoring the High Street in Machynlleth and, as they approached the cash machine, he told Jarman he would not go any further.

Jarman realised he was “on camera” and left, but in the next few minutes made two unsuccessful att­empts to withdraw money from Mr Jones’ accounts.

Miss Gedrych said Mr Jones suffered serious psychological harm as a result of the ordeal.

Two days later police found him sitting in his car outside his home and he told officers he was too frightened to go back inside.

Jarman was arrested soon after the incident and police found Mr Jones’ bank cards and his mobile telephone.

His barrister, John Hedgecoe, said alcohol abuse lay at the heart of his offending.

Judge Peter Heywood said he had to give Jarman credit for his guilty pleas and reduced the sentence to 10 years.

“You forced your way into his home hell bent on robbing him of cash and you locked him in his own home in an ordeal that lasted three hours. You held him hostage,” he added.

“He has been left with scars that he thinks will be with him for the rest of his life.”

Judge Heywood issued a restraining order banning Jarman from ever going near Mr Jones and warned him that any breach of the order would result in a prison sentence of up to five years.