A WORCESTER man used an antique warming pan to fight back against two armed robbers who burst into his home and demanded cash.

Retired Terence Dimmock was watching television when he answered a knock on the door and the two robbers burst in, brandishing an imitation pistol.

The 63-year-old fought back with the warming pan as Phillip Scarrott and an accomplace searched for his wallet.

Yesterday, Scarrott was jailed for six-and-a-half years. His accomplice has never been found.

The unidentifed thug battered Mr Dimmock four times over the head with the imitation pistol.

Meanwhile, Scarrott gripped him round the throat so tightly he had difficulty breathing, prosecutor Peter Grice told Worcester Crown Court.

The terrifying ordeal at the house in Ronkswood only ended when Mr Dimmock managed to escape to a neighbour’s home and the robbers fled.

Scarrott, aged 22, of Moor Street, Worcester, pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of an imitation firearm.

He had a 10-year record for violence, theft and damage and lived off the proceeds of crime.

The robbers went to the house on August 11 last year at 9.25pm.

Mr Dimmock answered a knock on the door and was confronted by a man asking about a cat being run over, said Mr Grice.

The ringleader then stuck the pistol into his cheek and said he wanted £20,000, which he believed was Mr Dimmock’s redundancy payout.

The victim told him he had lost his job 10 years ago and only had a wallet with about £100 in it.

A struggle then developed, with Mr Dimmock being hit over the head with the gun before he grabbed the warming pan off a wall to beat off the attack.

Scarrott then grabbed him by the throat but he bit the robber’s arm to escape. The thugs left with his wallet containing cash, a bank card, fishing licence and a bus pass.

Police arrested Scarrott on September 3 after saliva found on the warming pan matched his DNA profile.

Fergus Maxwell, defending, said Scarrott had been brought up in care, later falling under the influence of a gang of crooks who were “more worldly-wise than he”.

He was recruited for the robbery by a man who had bought stolen diesel off him.

Mr Maxwell said Scarrott played a secondary role and never physically handled the pistol.

Recorder Edward Hess described the robbery as “disgraceful, appalling and absolutely terrifying”.

The psychological impact had left Mr Dimmock a changed man who was scared to venture out and constantly searched the faces of anyone he came into contact with.

Scarrott had “a terrible record for one so young”, the recorder said.

A probation officer had assessed him as posing a “significant risk of committing serious crime in the future”.

He warned Scarrott that if he failed to break contact with the gang members they would involve him in further trouble and eventually ruin his life.