Published at 16:59, Wednesday, 06 March 2013

A burglar who terrorised a dying pensioner by pinning him to his bed by the throat in the dead of night has been jailed for 12 years.

Dean Norman, of Carlisle: Sentenced to 12 years after he admitted two burglaries and a count of burglary attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm

A burglar who terrorised a dying pensioner by pinning him to his bed by the throat in the dead of night has been jailed for 12 years.

At Carlisle Crown Court, Judge Paul Batty QC described the burglary committed by 26-year-old Dean Norman as the worst he had seen in his legal career.

The court heard a heart-rending account of the devastating effect on Norman’s victim, 77-year-old former Army chef Brian Johnston, whose oxygen tube was pulled out by Norman during the 4am burglary a few days before Christmas.

The pensioner was left suffering nightmares and so shaken he has had to be moved into a care home.
Prosecutor Alan Lovett described how Mr Johnston’s daughter and carer, Julie Piercy, had gone for a rare night out on December 22, leaving her father in the care of her son Nathan and his girlfriend Danielle Swatts.

Though fully mentally alert, Mr Johnston was bed-bound, blind and dependent on oxygen because of his terminal lung condition.

Mr Piercy and his partner went to bed at 11.30pm but Mr Johnston lay awake as he found it difficult to sleep because of his medical condition.

But at around 4am he became aware that there was somebody in the room.

Mr Lovett said: “He felt a pressure across his face and something pushing down on him, trying to stop him breathing and he felt somebody pushing down on his chest.”

Mr Johnston was aware of a rough, or gloved hand, covering his mouth.

“He was scared, trying to get his breath and panicking,” said Mr Lovett.

The pensioner’s ordeal ended when his grandson and Miss Swatts heard him scream and ran to his room.

“They found the defendant leaning over Mr Johnston, his hand pressed on the pensioner’s throat.

"When he was challenged, the defendant ran at Mr Piercy, who struck him in the face and physically dragged him out of the flat.”

It was after Norman had left that the couple saw that he had pulled Mr Johnston’s oxygen tube out, which they reconnected.

As he fled from the flat, in Charlotte Terrace, Botcherby, Norman passed Julie Piercy who was returning home and muttered: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Despite this, he went on to burgle two more houses as he made his way home.

Minutes later, he broke into a house in Duke Street, Shaddongate, where a couple and their two-year-old daughter were asleep.

He ran off when challenged but took various keys with him as he left, returning briefly a short time later to peer through a window.

In the third raid he forced the door of a house at Stonegarth, Morton, but fled when the man living there challenged him on the stairs.

Mr Lovett then read from the victim impact statement of Julie Piercy, who said her father had been very poorly before the burglary but in good spirits.

“The change since this incident has been heartbreaking,” she wrote.

Mr Lovett said: “On January 8, she found it was necessary to have her father put in a care home and she was devastated.

“Since the incident, he has become increasingly confused and talks about people coming to get him in his bed.

“He was admitted to hospital after the burglary and remained there until January 4. She says the incident has knocked all of the fight out of him. She’s angry and upset that his last days and weeks have been marred.”

Norman, of Seatoller Close, Morton, admitted two burglaries and a count of burglary attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm.

Passing sentence, Judge Batty told Norman that justice demanded that a severe sentence should be passed if only to deter others who may be minded to commit similarly “outrageous” offences.

He said: “In a long time at the bar doing criminal cases and now for some time as a judge this is quite the worst case of burglary I have ever had to deal with.”

After the case, Judge Batty praised the bravery of Nathan Piercy in tackling Norman, saying: “Nathan Piercy acted with the utmost bravery and had no thought for his own safety.”

Judge Batty awarded Mr Piercy £500 from public funds and his partner £250.

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk