Doorstep thug's reign of terror

JAILED . . . Ronald Pollitt

A DESPERATE drug addict deliberately targeted vulnerable elderly residents living alone in the hope of getting his hands on easy cash, a court was told.

Ronald Pollitt (51) terrified his victims by threatening them with a knife, or by using physical violence to force them to give him money.

One was so traumatised by the experience, she had to move house.

Jailing Pollitt for a total of eight years and eight months, Judge Phillip Sycamore told him: "This on any view, was a pattern of despicable offending, and you already had an appalling record."

Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court was told how Pollitt had carried out a spate of crimes including five robberies and two burglaries in March ­- many of them in Chadderton and Failsworth.

One of his his victims was an 83-year old man suffering from cancer and diabetes living in Cypress Avenue, Chadderton.

Pollitt forced him backwards into the house after he answered a knock at the door, pushing his forearm into the pensioner's neck.

The victim shouted for his carer to call the police and Pollitt casually walked off. He was later picked out on a video identification parade. An 81-year old pensioner with heart problems opened the door to Pollitt, who pushed him into his porch and then grabbed him around the neck.

He then forced him into his hallway demanding money, and holding his arm across his throat making it difficult for him to breathe.

Pollitt punched him to the face knocking him to the floor, then stamped on his hand with force. He escaped with £250 of his victim's pension money.

Another victim aged 85 was bullied into letting Pollitt into his home, when he asked to use his toilet.

It was only when he had gone that the pensioner realised he had stolen his £100 and his bus pass from the pocket of a coat which had been on a hook near the front door.

A 73-year old pensioner living on Cedar Avenue, Chadderton, let Pollitt into his home when he offered to carry out repair work on his garden fence.

Pollitt immediately demanded cash from his victim who suffers from asthma.

Lisa Boocock, prosecuting, told the court the pensioner was scared he might have an attack, and told Pollitt he did not have much money.

Polllitt then pushed his chest with his hands knocking him backwards onto a chair, hauled him back onto his feet and took cash from his pockets.

Pollitt forced his way into the home of a 77-year old man threatening to stab him, and then locking him in his own home.

A 77-year old woman with mobility problems was dragged back into her home and thrown on to a sofa after opening her door to Pollitt who immediately stopped her from crying out by putting his hand over her mouth.

He demanded her purse from which he took £25, and then demanded more money.

He asked her: 'Do you want to live or die?' Then took out a large knife from a rolled up newspaper he had been carrying.

The pensioner said in a statement afterwards: "I have had to move from that flat to another, as I don't feel safe there anymore. I can't get what's happened out of my head."

The court was told that Pollitt also targeted Heron Foods supermarket in Chadderton where he threatened a cashier with a large knife, demanding that she open the till.

One customer heard him threaten to stab someone, and he ran off with around £130 in bank notes after finally prising it open with his weapon.

Michael Johnson, defending, said his client's life had been blighted by an addiction to drugs including heroin and crack cocaine.

He had accrued large debts and had been encouraged to turn to crime by his suppliers, to pay them back.

He said: "There is no doubt that this was a despicable catalogue of offending that will attract feelings of hostility and disgust, and he is ashamed of what he has done."

Pollitt, originally from Chadderton but whose last address was Ascot Road, Newton Heath, pleaded guilty to five counts of robbery, two of burglary, one of theft, attempted robbery, and two counts of possession of a bladed article.