Two men who robbed Falmouth pizza restaurant staff at knifepoint before making off with £15 have been jailed for a total of seven and a half years by a judge in Truro.

Ben Bowdery, 36, and Rowhan Glenister, 20, were sentenced on Friday at Truro Crown Court after previously pleading guilty to charges of robbery and attempted robbery which took place at Domino's on Killigrew Street in the early hours of May 2 this year.

The two men entered the takeaway through a side entrance before Bowdery, of 8 Baynards Close, Truro, held one member of staff with a small craft knife against his face, drawing blood in the process, and saying "do you want to get cut," prosecutor Phillip Lee told the court.

The court heard that while this happened Glenister, whose address was given as 130 Witton Lodge Road, Birmingham, egged Bowdery on and made "supportive threats," such as "give him what he wants."

Mr Lee told Judge Simon Carr that both men were arrested shortly afterwards at Bowdery's address, and when questioned Bowdery said he had "no idea what he had been doing over the past weeks or months due to the large amount of drink he had been consuming," and he also "claimed to have no memory of this incident."

The court also heard that two Domino's employees involved in the robbery were left "much more anxious" and "extremely frightened" as a result.

Chris Spencer, defending Bowdery, said his client had spent the months since the offence on remand, recognised his predicament and had spent his time studying and dealing with his addictions. He said his client's wife had left him in 2016, taking their daughter, his father had died on April 30, and "things fell apart for him."

Mr Spencer said: "In the day [of the robbery] he had gone down to Falmouth to see his sister and talk about his father, he started drinking and continued drinking.

"He was under the influence of alcohol, and still tells me he has little recollection of what happened. He accepts it was him, he accepts the account of the night."

He added it was "certainly not a professional robbery in any sense," and his client believes the craft knife "was found on the premises."

Defending Glenister, Nicholas Bradley asked the judge to consider an "exceptional course" and not hand down a custodial sentence, due to his client's youth - he was 19 at the time of the offence - and the fact Bowdery was "in the lead" during the robbery.

He described his client as a "vulnerable young man" with a troubled upbringing, and urged the judge to consider that imprisoning such an "impressionable" person could lead to a risk of him being "subverted by the environment" he might end up in.

The court heard Bowdery had a number of previous convictions including assaults with a bladed weapon in 2000, but no record of significant recent offences, and Glenister had a limited record.

Sentencing, Mr Carr said the men had clearly "targeted" Domino's, before escaping with a "tiny amount of money," and added that "only custodial sentences are appropriate."

Bowdery was also found guilty of one charge of perverting the course of justice, after causing police to falsely arrest one man on trumped-up assault allegations.

Mr Lee told the court that Bowdery had been a group of black-clad men who caused a disturbance and smashed windows outside a Truro residence one evening, while the occupants - including a mother and small child - were inside. During the course of this incident he had cut his hand, and had later accused another man of stabbing him in the hand during an assault. This allegation led to the man being arrested by police, questioned and spent the night in the cells, spending 13 hours in custody.

Bowdery was given sentences of three and a half years imprisonment for robbery and three years for attempted robbery, and a further 18 months for perverting the course of justice for a total of five years.

Glenister was imprisoned for two and a half years for robbery, and two years for attempted robbery, to run consecutively.

Both will have to pay a victim surcharge.