Brutal Soho Road robber hit pensioner over the head with brick and removed ring from his finger

A robber who brutally hit an 88-year-old man over the head with a brick before stealing his jewellery in Birmingham has been jailed. Vile Thomas Iverson followed his victim from Soho Road, Lozells, before unleashing the 'nasty' attack.

The 35-year-old struck the man from behind multiple times and then removed a ring from his finger and running off following the incident on September 23. The elderly man was taken to hospital with head and hand injuries although thankfully they were not life-changing.

Officers from the police's neighbourhood crime team reviewed hours of CCTV from the area and managed to track Iverson’s movements. Having identified Iverson, of no fixed address, as the prime suspect, police carried out proactive patrols and spotted him in the area in early October. He was arrested and went on to admit robbery.

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Iverson was sentenced to four years and two months imprisonment after a hearing at Birmingham Crown Court last Thursday, November 7. The neighbourhood crime team has a focus on tackling robbery and are running Operation Ruby across the force to catch those involved.

Speaking after the case, Detective Constable Max Hammond, from the team, said: "This was a nasty attack on a vulnerable man. We quickly identified him as the robber and had officers in place across the Lozells area to trace him. We did and he's now rightly behind bars."