A ROBBER has been jailed after £23,200 was stolen from the home of a pensioner in a brutal raid.

James Taylor was one of a gang of four who stole Robert Wainman’s life savings during the knifepoint robbery at his home in Fulham Street, Nelson.

The terrifying incident saw Mr Wainman, in his 70s, pinned down to the floor and threatened with a weapon on August 27 last year.

Sentencing Taylor, 23, of Fir Street, Nelson, to seven years for his part in the robbery, Judge Phillip Parry branded him a ‘wicked villain’.

Liam O’Callaghan, 30, of Belgrave Street, Nelson, who was part of the robbery plot, was also handed a two-year jail term for ‘acquiring criminal property’ after spending some of Mr Wainman’s money in a shopping spree with Taylor in Burnley.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Mr Wainman, who lives alone, had been sleeping when he was awoken by a loud bang.

Prosecutor Simon Driver said: “He went downstairs and saw that there were a number of people who were banging on the door.

“Mr Wainman then unlocked the door and they barged into his house, pushing him back into this kitchen and pinning him face down.

“Mr Wainman can’t recall how many men there were but said there were at least three men and three different voices.

“But CCTV obtained from addresses nearby shows four men walking towards the house before the incident, and then four men coming out of the house ten minutes later in the opposite direction.

“One of the men drops the cash and picks it up again.

“While Mr Wainman was pinned to the floor of the kitchen, he was conscious that that someone had gone upstairs.

“Two others remained downstairs and he couldn’t raise his head as a man had his hand on the back of his head.

“One of the men had a knife to the back of his ear from behind and another man punched him in the right-hand side of his head.

“They were making demands for money.”

The men then discovered the money close by rolled up in a plastic bag on a chair in the next room.

They then took most of it, £23,200 of around £25,000 Mr Wainman had saved up and left the scene.

The court then heard how Taylor and O’Callaghan later met up and went on a spending spree, getting rid of £1,000 in JD Sports, Scotts Menswear and in William Hill bookmakers on a roulette machine.

The court also heard how Mr Wainman had been admitted as an inpatient on August 11 at Airedale General Hospital.

He had given the staff the money he had saved to keep it safe during his stay there.

When he was discharged on a date shortly before August 27, the cash was then returned to Mr Wainman.

The court heard how Mr Wainman had been saving the money for over thirty years to help buy him a car to aid his mobility.

Defending Taylor, Phillip Holden, said: “He knew there was going to be a robbery but he didn’t know any knife going to be involved and he did not participate in any violence.

“He was shocked at the level of violence used against an elderly man but accepts that he was part of a group of more sophisticated criminals than him.

Defending O’Callaghan, Douglas Stewart said: “He accepts the money he spent came from a robbery but didn’t know it was from an old man.

“He has a poor criminal record but not for this type of offence.”

Taylor had pleaded guilty earlier this year to robbery, while O’Callaghan had also pleaded guilty to ‘acquiring criminal property’.

Jailing Taylor, Judge Parry said: “You have no right to shake your head at me, you’re a wicked villain and involved yourself as part of a group of serious offenders.”

“I give you 25 per cent for your guilty please but sentence you to seven years in prison.

Jailing O’Callaghan, Judge Parry said: “You knew the cash from Taylor had come from a robbery yet you didn’t give a jot and instead happily come into possession of the cash which you chose to spend.

“I sentence you to 30 months in prison, giving you 20 per cent credit for a guilty plea, taking it down to two years.”