A SEVENTEEN-year-old’s heart stopped after he was brutally stabbed in the chest with a steak knife in a bus robbery when he was given just three seconds to empty his pockets.

Blane Valentine Halligan, aged 20, of Leasow Drive, Edgbaston, has been sentenced to detention for a minimum of five years after he pleaded guilty to robbery and wounding with intent in a terrifying attack which left his victim needing to be resuscitated twice.

The teenager encountered violent Halligan when he was catching a bus in Kings Heath High Street to meet friends, on the night of September 25 last year.

Before he even got on board Halligan had stolen his mobile phone saying he would protect it from another nearby group of youths.

Shenaz Muzaffer, prosecuting, at Birmingham Crown Court, said: “The defendant then said he would hang around with the complainant for a while to see if the complainant was cool about what was happening and then give his phone back.”

Once on the double decker the victim saw Halligan was holding what looked like a steak knife. Halligan told the terrified teenager he had three seconds to empty his pockets.

Mr Muzaffer told the court that when he counted to three, he swung the knife at the victim who grabbed his hand and punched him three times in the face.