Thug jailed after gang attack on grandmother’s home

A COURT heard how a grandmother was left shaken after five men — including two holding a metal pole and a machete —  terrified her at her home after coming to look for her grandson.

Sheffield Crown Court was told the gang had turned up at the woman’s house in Herringthorpe following an altercation with her grandson last November.

Benjamin Taylor (22, pictured), of Browning Road, Herringthorpe, was in court on Tuesday for affray, possessing an offensive weapon and criminal damage, alongside William Duffy (21) of Guild Road, Rotherham, who admitted affray and driving offences.

Ms Fatima Zafar, prosecuting, told the court how the victim had been at home with her grandson, who had then gone outside.

She had heard a disturbance and seen a vehicle with “two unknown males”.

The woman had witnessed an altercation between her grandson and the men and had told them to “f*** off”, at which the car had driven away, said the prosecutor.

Ms Zafar said the complainant’s grandson had then left, as planned — but two cars and a van had turned up while he was away, and five men had got out.

Taylor, who was among them, had been holding a metal pole, she said, adding: “He did not threaten her with it, but the complainant had an impression that he wanted her to know he had it.”

The complainant had repeatedly been asked the whereabouts of her grandson while some of the men went around the side of the house, said Ms Zafar.

The frightened woman had seen her back door wide open and a man with a machete in his hand, she said, while the front door had been kicked down and another unknown male entered the house.

Ms Zafar said: “They threw a shopping trolley in the kitchen and then left the house.

“Taylor smashed the window as he was leaving.

“Duffy picked up a plant pot outside the complainant’s property and threw it to the window to cause it (the pot) to shatter.

“They then went back to their respective vehicles and left.”

CCTV from a neighbour’s home enabled police to identify Duffy’s car and he was arrested at a petrol station later in the day.

Ms Zafar said the complainant knew Taylor as he had grown up in the area, while Duffy had been identified in an identification parade.

In a statement, the woman said she had been left shaken by the incident.

Mr Peter Byrne, mitigating for Duffy, said he had initially stayed in the vehicle, had been the first to leave and regretted his involvement.

Judge Harrison, who described the attack as a “frightening incident”, said Taylor had a long record of previous convictions.

She told him: “The complainant had done absolutely nothing wrong.

“You and your friend decided to go to her house in a quiet residential estate.

“Two of your friends went to her home, and the front door was kicked down.

“You are just as responsible as those who did enter the property.”

Taylor was jailed for 14 months for affray and seven months for possessing an offensive weapon with the sentences to run concurrently.

Duffy admitted affray, driving without a valid licence and driving without insurance.

The judge told Duffy: “You will not have another chance” and sentenced him to a 12-months community order, 200 hours of unpaid work and 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

No details were given in court of whether the other three men had been identified and arrested.