Thug who held broken bottle to man's face and threatened to kill him is jailed
A ROBBER who held a broken bottle to a man's throat and threatened to kill him has been jailed.
Thug Ian Hardy, aged 21, of Lipson Road, was sentenced to five years after being found guilty of robbery at Plymouth Crown Court.
His victim Paul Dalgleish told The Herald how he had relocated to Plymouth from Birmingham after falling victim to crime eight times – only to be robbed at the hands of Hardy.
During the trial, Mr Dalgleish, a radio controller for a taxi firm, described how he was walking home from Mutley Plain around 2am on January 23 last year when he was grabbed around the throat from behind.
Hardy held the neck of a broken bottle to his neck and face and threatened to kill him.
He made Mr Dalgleish hand over his money - a bank-note and some change - and then searched him, taking cigarette papers and a bank card.
Mr Dalgleish called the police on his mobile phone.
"I flagged them down, said: 'I've been mugged,' and pointed him out," he said.
"It was definitely the man who robbed me, 100 per cent."
Hardy was arrested in an alley near to bins, where police found a broken bottle-top.
In his pocket was a taxi firm document with Mr Dalgleish's name on it, his shifts written down and the two previous shifts ticked off.
Kitchen deliverer Hardy said he had drunk 15-16 pints and six shots during the evening and could remember little, but was sure he had not committed the robbery.
However, he did recall picking up a piece of paper, an explanation which Judge Francis Gilbert QC described as "farcical".
The judge said the experience must have been "extremely frightening" for Mr Dalgleish, and the offence was aggravated by being committed at night, on a man walking home from work and using a weapon clearly carried for the purpose of robbery.
He jailed Hardy for five years, less 182 days for 364 days spent on tagged curfew.
Mr Dalgleish told The Herald he had been stabbed, burgled and assaulted in Birmingham prior to deciding to relocate to the South West.
The last of the crimes was when he was stabbed in the chest with an ice-pick.
After the sentencing Mr Dalgleish, aged 33, said: "He got a good sentence; I wasn't expecting it to be so long.
"When I was asked by police whether I'd been a victim of crime before I said there'd been several occasions in the past – burglary and assault.
"The last straw was when I got stabbed in the street outside my home in a random attack."
Mr Dalgleish said he had been living in a "rough" part of Birmingham and the savage assault with the ice pick was "the final straw".
He said: "I guess I was born unlucky.
"I left my job, my home, even my girlfriend and came to Plymouth to get away from it all.
"I've been here for three years and I've never really had a problem with anyone. It's a lot better then where I was living and I do feel safe here.
"I like to move about a lot, but I think I will be staying in Plymouth."
96 Comments
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by mcspredder
Tuesday, January 24 2012, 12:13AM
“@
dsaunders5
Monday, January 23 2012, 7:50PM
.
"i have just read all the comments on this subject and i am surprised that not one of you have picked up on the fact the he stated he had drank 15/16 pints plus 6 shots but could not remember committing this crime,strange that."
OK, selective amnesia here, but I guess we're all a bit pi@@ed-off with criminals using drink as an excuse, and can't see why it's only no longer an excuse for injuring someone with a car. Knives, bottles, fists all find more favour with the judges.”
by dsaunders5
Monday, January 23 2012, 7:50PM
“i have just read all the comments on this subject and i am surprised that not one of you have picked up on the fact the he stated he had drank 15/16 pints plus 6 shots but could not remember committing this crime,strange that.”
by paulyd28
Monday, January 23 2012, 5:12PM
“Hello im Paul the victim in this case and i just wanted to thank everyone for their support and comments, im happy that justice prevailed and i truely hope that Ian sorts himself out and gets back on the straight and narrow. I dont like to see anyone suffer but what he did he deserved to be punished for. I have not and never would do this to anyone and i only pressed charges because it could have been a girl or someone elses family member it could have happened to. I hope people stop posting silly comments and respect his family who have also suffered in all of this. Just to clear a couple of facts up, the case to a year to go to court because the arresting officer who was due to give evidence wason holiday during trial (amazing) and secondly i was there and it was Ian who attacked me, i stayed there until police arrived and i pointed him out, i just wish he was big enough to admit it and myself, my friends and Ians family a lot of bother. Also i have not been robbed 8 times as the court said i have had my house burgled several times and been in the firing line on a couple of occasions with drunken idiots one of whom stabbed me for no reason whatsoeverother then i told him to not swear at me! Yes i was born unlucky!”
by Concerned1974
Monday, January 23 2012, 5:10PM
“Threatening to kill someone with a broken bottle is not a mistake, it's a crime. Stealing a car and ramming it into a wall is not a mistake, it's also a crime. This "lovely lad" apparently acts like a thug a lot and has done since his school days... good riddance to another piece of trash. I can't believe his family and friends are not disowning him, they actually support the piece of ****, despite him being found guilty, despite them knowing that's he's done this sort of thing before. No wonder he acts the way he does... The poor kid was brought up to be like that, and his family and friends supported his thuggery. Maybe he'll learn his lesson now, it's a shame that no one taught him the right way to behave in the first place.”
by plymouthkate
Monday, January 23 2012, 4:13PM
“Sounds like Gills91 needs some new friends!”
by o0Dj0o
Monday, January 23 2012, 9:53AM
“He deffo looks like a taker in the third photo, no doubt he'll enjoy his time away lol.”
by noxbox
Monday, January 23 2012, 9:02AM
“Caring kind people often go round sticking broken bottles in people's faces and then robbing them. Wrong place at the wrong time. Really hows that work out. No evidence sounds like there was to me. Don't tell me, don't tell me, the jury had it in for him, they are corrupt just like the judge and all the police and the guy who was attacked who pointed him out and he just happened to have evidence in his pocket. Maybe I'm corrupt too? I class myself as a kind caring person so how dare you suggest that he is. Face facts he's guilty now stop your fruitless moaning about his innocence and move on!”
by BillFarmer
Monday, January 23 2012, 8:47AM
“It seems to me as though this man's family should be offering the Birmingham man and the car owner some financial recompense, if they are so keen to defend their boy.”
by beerbarian
Monday, January 23 2012, 8:14AM
“Judging by the comments of this thugs family and friends it would come as no surprise if going to prison is the norm for them!”
by hobbsy11
Sunday, January 22 2012, 10:32PM
“Gills yeah thats true !!”