MASKED men burst into an Oxfordshire pub wielding a machete and sword before stealing more than £5,000 in cash and the owner's Audi R8.

Victim of the armed robbery and landlady at the The Duck on the Pond, South Newington, Katherine O'Neill was threatened and told she would be tied up during the terrifying raid, Oxford Crown Court heard yesterday.

Ashton Vann, of Buddleia Close, Leicester, was set to stand trial for the single count of robbery but pleaded guilty yesterday.

The court heard that the 23-year old together with an unidentified accomplice had used the pseudonym 'Sam Moore' on the morning of May 25 to buy an Audi Estate for £300 from a man via Facebook.

Prosecutor John Upton said that the pair then drove the Audi to the shut Oxfordshire pub at about 10.30pm.

Wearing balaclavas with Vann armed with a machete and his accomplice holding what was described as an 'antique sword', the men preyed on Ms O'Neill who was cashing up alone.

Mr Upton told the court: "They threatened her and said they would tie her up and asked for the safe. They took over £5,000 in cash and stole her own Audi R8."

He went on to tell the court that the Audi Estate bought that morning was later found at the back of Fairway Fish Bar, Banbury, and Vann was traced to an address at Sandford Green in the town.

When he spotted officers he ran off before he was found by police dogs hiding in nearby undergrowth.

Initially Vann was set to stand trial but Mr Upton told the court that new evidence in the form of 'cell site data' placing him in the area of the pub at the time of the incident led to his change of heart.

The court also heard that Ms O'Neill intended to leave the pub trade following the incident and she has since sold the business on to new owners.

In mitigation Anthony Bell admitted that his client afforded little in the way of defence and accepted he had committed the robbery not long after his release from another robbery offence and a five-year jail term.

He added that despite that he had shown some progress on his release in the run up to the offence.

Sentencing Judge Ian Pringle QC called Vann's past offending 'a shocking record' and jailed him for six years as well as ordering a victim surcharge.