Disabled man hit in face with hammer in attempted robbery

Kaine Bentley, 27, lived just a few doors down from his 56-year-old victim, who was virtually blind and used a mobility scooter.

Norwich Crown Court heard that Bentley and another man - who has never been identified - went to his property on Middlegate Road, Great Yarmouth, late at night.

Bentley had taken a hammer with him, which the other man used to smash a window to get into the property.

Bentley then opened the door to the bedroom, where the victim had been sleeping, and demanded money.

Norwich Crown Court (Image: Peter Walsh, Newsquest)

Bentley opened the door to the bedroom, where the victim had been sleeping, and demanded money before his co-defendant struck the terrified man in the face, fracturing his eye socket before getting away with nothing.

The other man then struck him in the face with the hammer, fracturing his eye socket. But the pair fled empty-handed.

The offence, on June 29, 2022, happened just a few months before Bentley, who has issues with drug addiction as well as his mental health, attacked his former partner in Yarmouth.

The court heard the woman suffered a suspected hairline fracture to her cheekbone after she was kicked and punched.

Bentley also pulled her hair and strangled her until she lost consciousness in the attack on December 5, 2022.

Kaine Bentley (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)

Both offences followed an affray Bentley was involved in, in March 2022, when a man with a child went round to a property in Coronation Green, Cobholm, to complain about noise in the early hours of the morning.

Bentley and others were at the property and John Morgans, prosecuting, said the incident escalated.

There was "shouting and swearing" before a window was broken at the victim's home by a brick which was chucked through it.

Mr Morgans said the victim was "so scared" about what Bentley - and the others - might do that he vomited.

Bentley, formerly of Middlegate Road, Yarmouth, appeared at court on Friday (September 27) after he admitted affray, attempted robbery, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage.

Imposing an extended 11-year sentence, made up of seven-and-a-half years custody and three-and-a-half years on licence, Judge Katharine Moore said Bentley was a "dangerous" offender.

She said the attempted robbery was "particularly troubling" with the vulnerable victim, who was "home alone in bed" when he was struck with the hammer.

Judge Moore accepted Bentley was "not the main protagonist" and played a "secondary but significant role" in the planned offending which he leant himself to and brought the hammer.

Oliver Haswell, mitigating, said Bentley, who suffers from diabetes and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) should be given credit for his pleas.

Bentley was also made the subject banning him from contacting the victims in the case directly or indirectly for the next eight years.