A drunken man who tried to rob a Great Yarmouth taxi driver at knifepoint and slashed him in the arm during a struggle is today starting an eight-year jail term.

Scott Chesney, 31, threatened taxi driver George Brown after getting into his cab at Britannia Pier – and was caught because he returned to the scene of the crime to look for his lost watch.

Norwich Crown Court heard that when he reached his destination and Mr Brown asked for his fare, Chesney held a knife into the back of his seat and demanded that he hand over his money.

Lori Tucker, prosecuting, said that when Mr Brown refused and got out of the car, Chesney confronted him and was making swiping and jabbing movements with what must have been a knife.

She said Mr Brown was scared at what was happening and when he tried to fend off Chesney he got a cut on his arm which required stitches.

During the struggle Mr Brown shouted out to passers-by to call the police and Chesney ran off. But he dropped his watch at the scene and when he returned in a car to find it his registration number was taken and he was later arrested.

The court heard that the attempted robbery had a significant impact on Mr Brown and his family. He had a number of stitches in his arm and the wound went septic. He also felt low and depressed about what happened.

Chesney, of Nelson Road Central, Great Yarmouth, admitted attempted robbery on September 10 this year.

Jailing him for eight years, Judge Martin Binning told him that he had robbed a vulnerable taxi driver: 'It's changed his life and left him feeling very low. He has suffered and is still suffering long-term.'

Richard Potts, for Chesney, said that he very much regretted what he had done: 'He really can't believe he has done this.'

He said that Chesney had expressed a wish to meet his victim and apologise in person: 'This offence was completely out of character.'