A 39-year-old held a man at knife point and demanded he withdraw cash from an ATM in a daylight robbery on New Year’s Eve.St George’s resident Jamal Fray was yesterday jailed two years for the violent attack.His victim, Michael Phipps, left his Devon Springs Road home for three weeks after the afternoon mugging, fearful Fray would return for a further attack on him or his neighbours because of his violent past.Fray has been convicted for several violent offences and in October 2010, stabbed his girlfriend eight times in the head, chest and face in a “drug-induced psychosis”.Crown Counsel Cindy Clarke said Fray committed this most recent crime less than two months after he was released from jail.She read from a victim impact statement that Mr Phipps arrived at home around 3.45pm on December 31 and found Fray waiting on the sidewalk outside his house.“The defendant took hold of his arm and threatened to stab him with a knife and told him to drive to the ATM machine and withdraw $1,000,” said Ms Clarke.Mr Phipps drove to the ATM machine at nearby Collector’s Hill Apothecary and took out the cash as Fray had demanded, she added.“The victim said he was feeling very stressed about the incident because he knows the defendant is a violent person,” Ms Clarke said.“He was scared for his neighbours that he would threaten or harm them, he had to move out of his house for three weeks and moved in with friends during that time.”A social inquiry report cited drug abuse concerns and indicated that Fray as a high-risk repeat offender, the lawyer said.Ms Clarke noted that Fray had only been released from prison on October 15, for a previous conviction.She asked Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner for a sentence of two to three years, with a period of probation attached.The maximum sentence for the crime is five years.“He has previous convictions for violent offences including a conviction in 2006 for robbery when he was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment,” Ms Clarke said. “He was convicted again for wounding, for which he was sentenced to five-and-a-half years.”Fray, who was unrepresented in court, argued that “a lot of the stuff that was read out in court was a bunch of lies”.He claimed that Mr Phipps had agreed to loan him the money and he intended to pay him back.“We worked out a date for me to repay him. I went to his job on January 14 and he was not there. I went to his house and he was not there, soon after that the police arrested me on my job,” he said.“I think I’m being judged already for my past. When I got out of jail I wasn’t using drugs.“I had my own apartment and a job it wasn’t full-time and that’s why I needed to borrow some money.“I’m not really a violent person unless I’m aggravated.”Fray pleaded guilty to the offence in January.The court heard then that Mr Phipps initially gave him $2 out of his wallet, but was pressured to hand over a greater amount.He told his attacker that he could get him $200 but Fray became irate and asked for $1,000 promising “if you don’t give me the money I will stab you”.After he got the cash Fray told the victim not to call the police. He also threatened and bullied the complainant on another occasion.Yesterday Fray told the court that “there was a long line of at least 50 people at the ATM machine”.“If I was robbing him why didn’t he scream for help or run?“It’s hard for me to have remorse for a person that’s lied, I feel that he set me up and I’m just sorry that it has come to this,” he said.Mr Warner reminded the defendant of the statement he made in the social inquiry report.“You said that you asked to borrow money to pay your rent. You asked him for $750 and told him you have five children and that you don’t want to get kicked out of your apartment.“Now you’re saying to this court that you pled guilty because you wanted to get it over with and that the guy agreed to lend you the money,” said Mr Warner.Fray replied: “I’m just asking for leniency.”Replied Mr Warner: “You’re entitled to a discounted sentence for that early guilty plea, although in terms of general remorse you’ve shown none whatsoever in that you continue to indicate that there was no robbery and that he agreed to loan you some money and for no good reason he is lying on you about how you got this money from him.“The appropriate sentence is two years’ imprisonment followed by two years’ probation with drug and other rehabilitation treatment.”Time spent in custody would also taken into consideration, he added.