Shropshire Star

Pair jailed after man lured to Newport house and robbed at knifepoint

Two men have been jailed after being part of a gang who lured a builder to a house before robbing and assaulting him.

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Matthew Bowring was so terrified he jumped through an upstairs bedroom window to escape the men – one of whom was brandishing a kitchen knife and another a broken wooden chair leg.

James Delaney, 29, of Wyvern, Woodside, Telford, was jailed at Shrewsbury Crown Court for seven-and-a-half years for robbery and 27 months for causing grievous bodily harm.

The sentences will run concurrently, and half of the sentence will be served in custody and the rest on licence.

Andrew McNab, 31, of Henley Drive, Newport, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for unlawful wounding.

During the trial the court heard that Mr Bowring had gone to the house in Henley Drive on August 17, 2014, to collect £80 he was owed by Paul Edwards and Brogan Davis, who lived there.

But on arrival he was attacked and robbed by a group of four men, the prosecution told the jury on the first day of a trial.

The court heard that Delaney picked up a large kitchen knife and immediately started to prod Mr Bowring with it, pointing it very close to his neck

McNab left the house – with Mr Bowring's iPhone – once the gang started asking the victim for money. But Mr Bowring was pushed through into the living room where the assault continued.

Mr Bowring suffered bleeding from a number of cuts and injuries to his body.

While Delaney was still brandishing the knife he gave Mr Bowring a black mobile phone and demanded he ring people to ask for money, to which he called his father, who said he could not come up with the money.

At that point another member of the gang went into the kitchen and returned with a broken wooden chair leg and began hitting Mr Bowring with it.

Delaney, with the kitchen knife, lunged towards Mr Bowring's stomach.

Although he managed to fight it off, it caused injury to his hand, severing tendons.

Once McNab returned, Mr Bowring told him he needed to go upstairs to the bathroom – but instead jumped through the bedroom window and clambered over a fence before escaping

Paramedics informed police of the attack, and a police dog following the scent of the victim's blood went to the house at Henley Drive.

Sentencing the pair, Judge Peter Barrie said the attack and robbery had continuing consequences for the victim – both psychologically and physically.

Mr Edwards, 37, and Mr Davis, 21, also both of Henley Drive, and Benjamin Parks, 25, of Gladstone Street, Hadley, Telford, were all previously found not guilty of playing a part in robbing Mr Bowring.

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