A BANK worker tied up his boss and threatened him with a knife after being told he was under-performing at work.

Ben Thompson, a Halifax employee, believed that 41-year-old Ian Grady may have taken pleasure in making staff redundant.

Thompson had been worried he might lose his job.

In a dramatic bid to get psychiatric help, Thompson took his terrified employer prisoner one morning before the bank opened for the day.

Mr Grady was bound with electric flex by Thompson, who brandished a knife.

Thompson also screwed together two pieces of tubing, which made his victim fear he had a home-made gun.

The ordeal, last November, lasted almost 20 minutes before Mr Grady ran for his life, having managed to free his hands.

Yesterday Thompson, 24, of Hornby Road, Chorley, was jailed for 20 months at Preston Crown Court.

He had pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, and having a knife and an axe.

Thompson later told police: “I wanted to make sure people are listening to me. I wanted him to listen to me as well.

"I wanted him to know it isn’t right when you see your manager smiling about making someone relinquish their job. It makes me worry about mine.”

Following his experience, Mr Grady was off work for four months and moved to another branch. However, he was unable to remain at work and has now been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The court heard that Thompson had spent five years with the bank in Preston before the dramatic events of November 1 last year.

But his performance was under scrutiny at the time, and he felt felt under pressure from both managers and customers.

According to an experienced forensic psychiatrist, in the three months leading up to the offences, Thompson believed malevolence was all round him at work.

He had developed a degree of paranoia towards Mr Grady, a family man.

In the week before taking him prisoner, Thompson had been told by Mr Grady that he was under-performing and working more like a new recruit, rather than someone with five years’ experience.

He deliberately targeted his boss one morning by saying he wanted a word with him. Thompson had gone to work with a knife and axe hidden in a bag.

Judge Christopher Cornwall told Thompson what took place had been carefully planned.

He said “It seems to have been someone taking the law into their own hands. You wanted to teach him a lesson.”