Cambridge burglar who attacked man with hammer over £30 jailed
The victim was treated for deep cuts to his head at hospital
A burglar who attacked an elderly man with a hammer on his own doorstep for just £30 in cash and his bank card has been jailed for more than a decade.
48 year old Michael Janes threatened the victim and tired to get into his home in Cockerell Road in Cambridge in September. The man, who is in his 70s, blocked him from getting in but Janes used the hammer to hit him in the head, causing him to fall.
The victim was then hit in the head with the hammer three more time.
Janes then fled with his accomplice, 51 year who Mariza Main, who had originally knocked on the victim’s door claiming she was a neighbour and needed money for a taxi.
The elderly man noticed his wallet had been stolen, which contained his bank cards, £30 in cash, his bus pass and library card.
Shortly afterwards he received a text telling him his card had been used to spend nearly £50 at a service station in Elizabeth Way, Cambridge – a mile and a half away – to buy vodka, tobacco and two burgers. A further transaction for £23 was declined.
The man was treated for deep cuts to his head at hospital.
Janes and Main were caught on CCTV at the service station and were arrested at their home in Whitfield Close, Cambridge, where the items purchased at the service station were recovered. Officers also found £29 in cash in Main’s handbag.
Janes pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and fraud by false representation. He also admitted another burglary, breaking into a dental practice in Chesterton Road, Cambridge, in May last year.
He caused more than £430 of damage by smashing the practice’s windows and was linked to the crime by leaving blood at the scene. Janes also stole a vape from a detention officer’s bag after his arrest – and admitted the theft.
Main pleaded guilty to burglary and fraud. Both were sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court on Thursday (15 May) where Janes was handed an extended sentence of 11 years and nine months after the judge took into account his risk to the public. Main was given four years behind bars.