Machete attackers jailed for raid on 82-year-old's home

Two men attacked an 82-year-old antique weapons collector with a machete in his own home.

Andrew Paull, 49, and Nathan Flower, 33, burst into the pensioner's home in St Austell, while he was asleep in bed in April 2024, Truro Crown Court heard.

The pair struck the victim several times with a machete as he tried to get out of bed before demanding the keys to a safe, believing it contained gold and cash, but which turned out to be empty.

The victim was then pushed down the stairs, suffering cuts to his face, hand and wrist, before the attackers fled with £530 in cash, bank cards and keys.

Sentencing the pair earlier, Judge James Adkin said they had used "intimidating violence against a vulnerable individual in his own home".

He said the victim, who is now 85, had been left in a "quite pathetic state" and described him as a "broken man".

Paull, of no fixed abode, and Flower, of Basset Road, Camborne, both previously admitted wounding.

The court heard drugs had blighted the lives of both men.

Judge Adkin jailed both defendants for 27 months each. He also imposed seven-year restraining orders banning them from contacting the victim.

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