Heartless Hanley couple robbed drunk of £2k left by his dad
A COUPLE who robbed a homeless alcoholic of £2,000 cash have been jailed.
Kevin McMann and Susan Dean targeted Peter Dring as he sat on a bench by industrial units at Festival Park, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard.
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JAILED: Kevin McMann and Susan Dean.
He had about £2,000 cash, the last of his father's will, in his bag and was drinking cider when the pair approached.
Prosecutor Neil Ahuja said: "McMann asked if he was an alcoholic and said he was too. He started drinking with him, talking, watching a film on the victim's iPhone and listening to music on his radio.
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"The victim gave Dean some money to go and buy drink.
"They would have seen him retrieve money from his bag. He kept his cash in a sleeping bag holder."
The court heard how Dean then asked a teenager to meet them who grabbed and ran off with the victim's bag.
Mr Ahuja added: "The victim fell to the floor and McMann kicked him to the head and punched him several times to the head."
The court heard Mr Dring remembered waking up in an ambulance. He was taken to hospital and suffered a swollen and bruised right eye.
Police arrested McMann and Dean the next day. They recovered the victim's iPhone and various amounts of money. And they seized McMann's boots which contained Mr Dring's blood.
McMann, aged 41, and Dean, aged 38, both of Century Street, Hanley, pleaded guilty to robbery on August 26 last year.
Peter McCartney, mitigating for McMann, said heroin and alcohol had blighted his client's life. Mr McCartney added McMann was also fighting depression.
Anis Ali, representing Dean, said she had fallen prey to individuals who are more sophisticated than her and able to control and pressure her.
"She became involved under the instructions of her partner," said Mr Ali. "She did not get involved in the attack on the complainant. She regrets her involvement."
Judge David Fletcher sentenced McMann to four years and six months in prison and jailed Dean for 21 months.
"It was an appalling offence," said the judge.
"You identified a gentleman who was desperately vulnerable. He was a homeless alcoholic. It soon became clear he was in possession of a considerable amount of money, £2,000. That truly was a king's ransom for someone in that situation. He was assaulted, knocked to the ground and kicked in the head and face by McMann, causing injuries."
Judge Fletcher said the robbery was aggravated because there was more than one offender, there was some pre-planning, the vulnerable victim was targeted as was a large sum of money.
The judge said McMann was the ringleader and added: "You dealt the blows, the violence to the man on the floor."
Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, Judge Fletcher certified McMann benefited by £2,000 and made a confiscation order for the available amount of £232.70. There was no order in respect of Dean.
27 Comments
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by ItsjustNarah
Monday, March 04 2013, 10:55PM
“LEAVE MY MUM AND STEP-DAD ALONE! ITS NOT THERE FAULT THEY WERE BROUGHT UP WRONG. YES WHAT THEY DID WAS WRONG BUT STOP SAYING NASTY STUFF ABOUT THEM. THERE MY PARENTS. AND KNOW THEY HAVE BEEN TAKEN AWAY FROM ME WHEN I ONLY JUST GOT THEM BACK.”
by HRTV8
Monday, March 04 2013, 10:55AM
“You used to see this pair of rubbish around cobridge regularly with there tribe of kids in tow.What a damn shame for the kids being bought into this world by low lifes like this.
Ms Dean was mislead by people who were more sophisticated than her eh.She was sophisticated enough herself to use the self scan tills at a well known supermarket on festival park and not scan all her items.Gets caught and is banned from using them.No one mislead her then.
Scum”
by kbeech06
Monday, March 04 2013, 8:20AM
“@bythetruth72
Well that's great...I hope his Iphone makes him feel better and keeps him warm at night. I for one, have a phone that is 6 years old. Works great and does what it needs to (which is not boosting my self esteem). If someone needs an Iphone to boost their self-esteem then I feel truly sorry for them. What the hell is this world coming to??”
by FFDP1
Monday, March 04 2013, 4:37AM
“Low flying bats by the looks of it.”
by pottersfreak6
Sunday, March 03 2013, 8:41PM
“Both would have to go to nightschool to qualify as nitwits !!”
by thetruth72
Sunday, March 03 2013, 8:38PM
“@kbeech06
You said;
"…but one thing stuck out at me in the article, a homeless, alcoholic with an iphone?"
Perhaps the homeless person had an iphone to boost his self-esteem 'kbeech'… which would make him just like the rest of us who own one.”
by captain-swing
Sunday, March 03 2013, 4:03PM
“McMann is a heroin and alcohol addict. The victim is also an alcoholic. Like others writing about this terrible incident I have no sympathy whatever for the crime and criminals.
However, I hope that crimes like this stiffen the social and political resolve to address the big issues of drug addiction in our society, which includes treating in the most effective and humane way possible individual addicts.
Captain Swing”
by MelvBoslem
Sunday, March 03 2013, 9:40AM
“People such as this should be put to use for the benefit of the whole world.Use them for medical science experiments.Inject them with some illness then try out different treatments to see which treatment is the best cure.These sort of people might suffer along the way.But in the long term they could help to save,improve another persons life.It would also keep them off the streets making it a lot safer for all.”
by jackdawsson
Sunday, March 03 2013, 9:14AM
“Many people have serious problems. Depression, alcoholism, other forms of drug addiction are rife in UK. But most people still have standards. This was a nasty crime (kicks & punches to the head) on a vulnerable man. No less scary: the chap in the photo with the dead eyes & a classic "am I a bovvered" look, will come out of prison in a fairly short time no different.
If society can't rehabilitate these useless deadbeat types, sentences should be much stiffer & involve some form of hard labour to pay society back.”
by JonWoolley
Sunday, March 03 2013, 8:44AM
“Praying on the helpless is the lowest form of scum.
ok the guy has a problem but it does not give anyone permission to prey off him like parasites.
Let them rot in jail, stick em in the block and forget about them till they waste away.”