A man who held a woman at knife point before stealing her car has been jailed.

Stephen Mather (24/04/1978) of no fixed abode has today (16 December) been jailed at Manchester Crown Square for seven years after he was found guilty of robbery and dangerous driving.

The court heard how at around 9.20pm on Saturday 24 April 2021 the victim, a woman in his 20s, had arranged via Snapchat to meet Mather on Dale Street, Edgeley, Stockport to buy something he was selling.

When she arrived on Dale Street in her white Nissan Qashqai, two males, one of which was Mather, approached her and got into her car. Mather instructed the woman to drive to Lucy Street and hand over the money for the purchase so he could go and collect the items.

As the younger male walked off both Mather and the victim got out of the car to have a cigarette and as they did so, Mather pinned the woman against the car and held a knife to her throat. He then demanded she hand over her phone, keys and anything else she had on her and instructed her to go down the street and walk away.

Terrified for her life she did as he asked and as she turned back she could see Mather race off in her car down Lucy Street before turning onto Old Chapel Street.

After calling the police to notify them of the stolen vehicle, an officer from GMP's Tactical Vehicle Interception Unit soon located the car on Stockport Road parked in a layby. As she pulled up behind the car, Mather immediately put the car into reverse and intentionally reversed into her liveried vehicle.

As more officers arrived at the scene Mather then moved forward colliding with another police vehicle as he attempted to get away. Unable to do so he was then swiftly detained by officers.

Detective Constable Robert Shakespeare of GMP's Stockport division, said: "This was a terrifying ordeal for the victim, who was left fearing that she would be stabbed by Mather. Thankfully she was left unharmed and due to the swift response of officers from TVIU we were able to locate Mather and potentially stop him from committing any further offences.

"Once alerted by police, Mather then attempted to ram the police vehicles in a failed attempt to flee officers. Thankfully he was unsuccessful in his escape and no officers were injured and no extensive damage was caused. Now Mather faces seven years behind bars where he'll be unable to cause any further fear or disruption."