A DISABLED pensioner had a knife held to his throat by a masked robber who forced his way into his home.
The 74-year-old man, who was injured while serving in the armed forces, was terrified when Glynn Burton, wearing a fancy dress mask of an old man, robbed him in his flat in Siddals Road, Derby.
Burton, who had been "friends" with the victim for 20 years, has now been jailed for seven years and five months.
Burton's DNA was found on the inside of the mask, which was found discarded in a bin in a street where he was spotted after he ran off from the pensioner's flat.
Recorder Nicholas Syfret QC said Burton had "targeted an elderly disabled man".
Mr Syfret said: "He was 74 at the time you robbed him. A man who was your friend; a man who had helped you with money and befriended you. You knew his problems – that he was injured serving in the Army."
Derby Crown Court heard that the man had just finished breakfast on November 17 last year when he answered a knock at the door.
As soon as he had opened it a little, the door was pushed open with "great force", said Andrew Vout, prosecuting.
Mr Vout said the robber had grabbed the man around his throat and said: "I want all your money."
He was pushed into his bedroom and on to his bed.
Burton, 37, then held a knife to the man's cheek repeating his demand for money, and the pensioner handed over £40.
"Burton became angry and said 'I want more'," Mr Vout told the court. Burton then got the man's bank card and held the knife to his throat demanding his pin number, before taking £160 from his pocket.
The pensioner then started to shout and Burton ran out of the flat and was spotted by two of the victim's neighbours.
One of them followed Burton and told police he had seen the robber heading into Calvert Street, where police recovered a brown jacket and mask that Burton had been wearing.
Burton, of Morleston Street, Derby, initially denied robbery and did not turn up to his trial in August, which went ahead without him but was then adjourned for legal reasons.
On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to robbery and not answering his bail.
Justin Ablott, in mitigation, said: "The background is his difficulty with drugs. There's remorse. There's some regret, not least because he acknowledges they had been friends for a number of years. Mr Burton viewed this man as a friend."
