A woman who asked to borrow money from a former boyfriend held a knife to his neck and robbed him of £40 when he turned up to meet her, a court has heard.

Gemma Hopkins, 26, had only been released from prison on licence two weeks earlier when she met Kevin Wright outside the Iceland store in Ipswich and produced a knife, Ipswich Crown Court was told. Following the incident she initially sent texts to Mr Wright begging him to report the robbery to the police as she wanted to be returned to prison, but then sent him texts in which she threatened to stab and kill him, said Michael Crimp, prosecuting.

Hopkins, of Benezet Street, Ipswich, admitted robbery, putting a person in fear of violence by harassment and failing to provide a sample. Jailing her for a total of 40 months, Judge John Devaux described the robbery as unpleasant and said Hopkins had pressed a knife in the region of Mr Wright’s neck. He said there had been a significant degree of planning to the robbery as Hopkins had carried a knife with her with a view to committing the offence.

Mr Crimp told the court that, in a statement to the police, Mr Wright said he knew Hopkins’ “good and bad parts”.

“He used to be in a relationship with her but wasn’t at the time. He had some warm feelings for her and knew her issues and was prepared to lend her some money,” said Mr Crimp. He said that after her arrest Hopkins had refused to provide a specimen to show if she had taken Class A drugs.

Hopkins chose not to be legally represented at the sentencing hearing and had nothing to say about the offences.