A VIOLENT robber who carried out a ‘sustained’ and ‘brutal’ attack on a defenceless pensioner as she slept in her bed has been jailed.

Police said the Andrew Hodgkinson used a ‘gratuitous level of violence’ during the attack on 88-year-old Evelyn Birchall which they said 'beggared belief’.

Sitting at Preston Crown Court, Recorder David Potter branded Hodgkinson, 36, of Ullswater Road, Chorley, a dangerous offender and jailed him for six years and eight months. He was also made subject of a three-year extended licence.

Police launched an investigation after Mrs Birchall was woken from her sleep in her home in Aspen Gardens, Chorley, at around half past midnight on Saturday, August 26, to find Hodgkinson assaulting her and demanding money.

He also pulled the great grandmother from her bed and the assault continued before he ransacked the house.

Mrs Birchall managed to crawl to a neighbour’s house to raise the alarm and the police were called.

She was taken by to hospital suffering from a number of injuries. But she has since made a full recovery.

Hodgkinson, who pleaded guilty to a single count of robbery, was found after a manhunt and arrested.

Items of stolen jewellery were recovered from a shed.

In a statement provided to the court, Mrs Birchall describes how the attack has affected her.

She said she still suffers from pain and lives in fear of Hodgkinson, even though she knows he is in prison. She struggles to sleep and keeps waking up imagining someone is in her room.

She describes how her great grandchildren were too scared to go and give her hugs after the attack because of her injuries and how Hodgkinson has taken her comfort, security and confidence. She is, however, determined to get this back she says.

Speaking after the sentencing hearing, Detective Inspector Warren Atkinson said: “This was a brutal and sustained assault on an elderly lady in her own home.

“The violence used on this vulnerable woman simply beggars belief and it is a miracle she was not more seriously injured.

“In 27 years of service I have never witnessed such levels of gratuitous violence.

“I welcome the sentence which reflects the gravity of Hodgkinson’s offending.”