'Most wanted' carjacker jailed after holding mother at knifepoint then driving off with her two toddlers still in the back seat Police chased Cedric Brown, 46, for a mile through streets of Birmingham Mother had just strapped in her children, aged one and two, for play group 6ft 4in criminal did not realise the children were in the back seat Once described as one of Britain's most wanted, Brown jailed for five years Wanted: Cedric Brown, pictured, had a Second World War replica commando dagger A carjacker who dragged a mother out of her vehicle at knifepoint in a tree-lined street then drove off with her two small children in the back was jailed for five years yesterday. Cedric Brown was being chased by police called to reports of an attempted burglary when he pulled Lucy Lawton from the driving seat and drove off. She had just strapped her children into their car seats ready to go to play group. Police cars followed the Ford Focus and cornered 6ft 4in Brown in a cul-de-sac half a mile away after he abandoned the car and tried to run. The children, a boy aged one and a two-year-old girl, were unharmed and quickly returned to their distraught mother at her home. At the time of the incident in Erdington, Birmingham, in April last year Brown was described as one of Britain's most wanted men. He was also being sought in connection with a violent burglary in Bristol two years earlier. Yesterday Judge Stuart Rafferty QC described 26-year-old Miss Lawton's terror at seeing the criminal "disappearing in the distance with her pride and joy" - her children - in the back of her car. He jailed Brown, 46, of no fixed address, for five years after he admitted robbery and possession of an offensive weapon - a Second World War replica commando dagger. Brown escaped kidnap charges after prosecutors accepted he had not realised the children were in the car, even though police had managed to open the rear door in a bid to get to them before the robber drove away. Brown was not convicted of any offence in connection with the burglary allegations. Terrifying: The tree-lined road in Birmingham where a mother-of-two was dragged out of her Ford Focus Dangerous: A previous photo of Cedric Brown from 2002. He was caught after a mile-long police chase The judge said Miss Lawton had been confronted by a "powerfully built and threatening stranger" and had been so panicked she believed the knife held under his jacket to be a gun. He told Brown: "She panicked completely... knowing full well her children were in the back. The police succeeded in opening the rear door of that car which must have terrified her even more because there were her children sitting in the back of that vehicle with an open door which you then drove away. Judge Rafferty said Brown would remain such a threat that he ordered him to remain on an extended licence for five years beyond his jail term, until 2023. Anthony Potter, prosecuting, told Birmingham Crown Court Miss Lawton had started the car when she saw Brown walk past and "feared the worst." He added: "Brown began to approach the vehicle and she went to lock the doors but was not quick enough." Mr Potter said Miss Lawton, who lives with her partner, tried to hold on to the steering wheel but Brown pulled her out. The court heard that Brown had been tried earlier this year for the Bristol aggravated burglary, when a husband and wife were tied up and slashed with a knife, but was acquitted on the directions of the judge. After yesterday's case Miss Lawton said she had suffered "18 months of hell." She added: "I still think there's a gap in the law where he wasn't charged for taking my children."