A "nasty" drug addict terrorised his kindly grandparents for two years, forcing them into handing over cash so he could feed his habit.

James Carpenter, 28, also used 79-year-old Jim Carpenter and his wife Irene, 75, as a "24 hour free taxi service".

Now a judge has heard how he would send them begging to neighbours when he couldn’t get money from them.

The thug also spewed out venomous insults, knocked his grandfather to the ground – and even secretly took out a payday loan in his grandmother’s name.

Now Carpenter, of Simon Avenue, Ashford has claimed he is free of drugs after admitting two harassment charges, an assault and breaching a suspended jail sentence.

But it didn’t prevent Judge Heather Norton from jailing him for 30 months – and then ordering an 150-day suspended sentence be served consecutively.

John Fitzgerald, prosecuting, told Canterbury Crown Court: “This is a case about a drug addict who exploited the good nature of his elderly grandparents to obtain money to feed his habit.

“The victims have lived in Ashford for eight years and after Carpenter was released from a previous jail term, he has harassed them for lifts and for money.

“He would call his grandmother and ask to be picked up from various parts of Ashford, using them like a 24-hour on call free taxi service, and once he had been taken home he would demand money from them, typically £20 to £25," he added.

If he didn’t get money, he called his grandmother "an old whore", a "stupid f****** b****" and threatened to torch their home, smash his grandfather’s face or make up false allegations.

"These were elderly, vulnerable people who loved you. You abused that love..." - Judge Heather Norton

Mr Fitzgerald said Carpenter knew when his grandparents collected their £340 a week pensions and would sometimes attend their home saying: ‘Right, off to the Post Office to get some money!’

He told the court how Mrs Carpenter was afraid of him and feared they would be assaulted unless they gave in to the demands.

They even allowed him to walk out of their home with their television on one occasion.

The pensioners had also secretly warned their neighbours not to give them money when the grandson forced them to ask for cash.

In July this year, after telling the couple to “find me some f****** money” he shoved his grandfather over, hitting his head against a chest of drawers and causing his head to bleed.

Even then, as Mr Carpenter was on his way for treatment , the callous druggie made his grandmother go to the Post Office before allowing her to go to the hospital.

“Mr Carpenter said the couple were at their wits' end and eventually told their son, Robert, who called the police," added the prosecutor.

Defence barrister Christopher Harding said Carpenter was now free of drugs and “feeling a billion times better”.

“He feels a deep remorse for what he did to them,” he added.

But the judge banned him from going to the homes of the couple or his father for five years, telling him: “These were elderly, vulnerable people who loved you.

“You abused that love, abused their trust and you did it verbally and physically and with aggression.”