A SEX worker feared for her life after she was set upon in Broadgreen.

The dad-of-one had attacked the woman, claiming she had run off with the £20 he had paid her. She told police the man was so strong and angry she felt “scared for her life”.

Magistrates ordered Agnelo Barretto complete 60 hours’ unpaid work and banned him from Broadgreen, after the 33-year-old, of Westmorland Road, admitted attacking the sex worker and her friend, soliciting and possession of a knuckleduster.

Prosecuting, Pauline Lambert said the woman had been walking past Newroz takeaway on Manchester Road in the early hours of January 26 when she was asked by Barretto if she “wanted business”.

He led her down an alleyway off Manchester Road, taking her to a garage. Barretto went inside the garage, while his friend was joined at the door by another man.

“She said she felt uncomfortable,” Ms Lambert said. “She didn’t want to do it because he smelled and there were two other people watching her.”

Feeling unsafe, she went to leave. Barretto grabbed her arm, but she walked quickly down the alleyway and back on to Manchester Road.

Barretto followed her and, when she and a friend tried to escape down the main road, he grabbed the neck of the sex worker he claimed had cheated him out of £20 and pushed her into a front garden. He was said to have shouted: “I’m going to kill you.”

He was later found by police with blood on his hands and a knuckleduster in his jacket that, when interviewed by police, he claimed he carried for protection after being robbed at knifepoint in the area.

Defending, Mark Glendenning said his client had made full and frank admissions when interviewed by police. An agency worker, he was the sole breadwinner for his young family. Mr Glendenning said: “He has thrown it all away for a moment of stupidity on a late January evening.”

Swindon magistrates sentenced Barretto to an 18-month community order. He must pay £50 compensation to the sex worker.