Drug addict who robbed her own grandfather is jailed

A woman who threatened her grandfather with a hammer while robbing him to fund her drug addiction has been jailed for four years.

Sherie North and her then boyfriend carried out a string of robberies in Bradford, West Yorkshire. last year.

The 23-year-old admitted two counts of robbery and one of attempted robbery for her involvement in the crimes with Scott Cross, 34.

North’s grandfather John Horvath was the first victim. They robbed him twice, stealing jewellery and £160 in cash on the first occassion. They threatened him with a hammer, and pushed and knocked him to the floor, the Court of Appeal heard.

The second time Mr Horvath raised the alarm and the pair fled empty-handed.

They also robbed an adult store, where Cross attacked an employee. The pair took £80 from the till.

Joel Smith, for Solicitor General Robert Buckland QC, said said that “perhaps the most significant” aggravating factor of the robbery of Mr Horvath was the “vulnerability of the victim, who was 70 years old and who walked with a Zimmer frame”.

Mr Smith added that North “is currently at large and there is a warrant for her arrest” after she breached the terms of her curfew and failed to attend a subsequent hearing.

North's solicitor John Bottomley said his client “quite clearly, on any view, plays a limited function in this offending” and suggested that it was “possibly under direction”.

His client was originally sentenced in December to two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years at Bradford Crown Court.

But Court of Appeal judges in London found the sentence was “unduly lenient” and gave her an immediate custodial sentence.

After the hearing, Mr Buckland said: “North terrorised her own grandfather to feed her drug addiction. I hope that a custodial sentence gives North the time she needs to reflect on her actions and overcome her addiction.”

Cross, whose sentence was not referred to the court, was jailed for nine years with a five-year extended licence for his part in the three offences, as well as two other robberies he committed on his own.