The terrifying reality of knife crime was highlighted as a woman robbed at knife point by a group including a Workington woman has given the first public account of her ordeal.

Law student Rachel More, 22, was targeted on a Carlisle street last March by three robbers – two men and a woman – as she walked along Close Street on her way to the University of Cumbria campus.

Tony Lockwood and Robert Phillips were jailed for a total of 14 years for the attack.

Their accomplice, Gemma Moore, of Pearl Road, Salterbeck, was given a two-and-a-half-year jail term.

Desperate to hang on to the bag in which she had her laptop, she tried to fight off her attackers.

Stored on the computer was most of the 10,000 word dissertation she had written to complete her degree.

She suffered a cut to the thumb during the struggle with the trio.

Describing what happened publicly for the first time yesterday as she was given a judge's commendation for her bravery, Rachel said: “A guy came up to me, asking for my bag.

"I said no. He showed me his knife. There was a bit of a struggle.

“Another guy came over, pulling on him, and the girl came over as well and was pulling on me. I was absolutely petrified. My first instinct was run - but my legs didn't want to go.

“It was just to protect my laptop really."

Miss More, who hopes one day to become a police officer, spoke of the psychological impact of the attack, which left her needing stitches for her thumb wound.

She said: "It's had a really big impact.

"After the incident I didn't really want to leave the house by myself; all my friends were taking me places.

"It stopped my going to uni for a bit as well. Now I have got to think about what is going to happen, where everything is, how much money I have got in my purse before I go out just in case it happens again."

At Carlisle Crown Court, she was commended by Cumbria's High Sheriff, the Rev Richard Lee, and given a £750 reward from public funds.

Judge Peter Hughes QC addressed the award ceremony, and said of the robbers: "Clearly they were on the lookout for a passing victim but in Rachel More they got more than they bargained for."