A masked robber who terrorised a woman and her elderly partner in their Harrogate home has been jailed for over four years.

Michael Palmer, 41, broke into the couple's flat while the victim and her 60-year-old partner were asleep, York Crown Court heard.

The woman was woken by the sound of glass smashing and got out of bed to investigate. She was confronted in the hallway by two masked men who had broken in by smashing a pane of glass in the front door, said prosecutor Andrew Finlay.

The two men were wearing face coverings or balaclavas and one was wearing a camouflage jacket. They pushed the woman into the living room and demanded money.

One of them, thought to be Palmer’s cohort, told her to get down on the floor and demanded she tell them where she kept her money as he stood over her.

“She said she didn’t have any,” added Mr Finlay.

“The (unnamed male) continued to shout (at) her, standing over her.”

The intruders went looking around the flat and one of them went into the bedroom where the woman’s partner, who was ill, was laid in bed.

They came back into the living room where the woman had grabbed a phone to try to call for help.

Palmer, who was on hard drugs at the time, demanded the phone from the woman, but she refused to hand it over, whereupon the duo left the flat empty-handed.

Home-made balaclava

The woman, who had been living temporarily at her partner’s flat, called police and gave them a description of the two men.

After a search of the area, they found Palmer and his cohort as they were emerging from a local property and were about to get into a taxi. They were both arrested.

The property was searched where police found a bag containing a crowbar, gloves, a home-made balaclava and a black jacket, which had been worn by Palmer during the break-in. The balaclava had been made out of a sleeve with eyeholes cut into it, said Mr Finlay.

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Glass fragments from the balaclava and jacket were found to have come from the point of entry, namely the smashed door pane, and DNA evidence was found on the clothes in the bag.
The two victims, who were named in court, said they had been “extremely scared about what happened and what (the robbers) were going to do”.

The male victim said he had been having nightmares about the break-in. He and his partner were now very nervous when they went to bed and panicked “at every noise”.

'Horrific offence of random violence'

Palmer, of Butler Road, Harrogate, refused to answer police questions following his arrest, but ultimately admitted attempted robbery, which occurred at about 3.30am on February 22, 2019.

The court heard that Palmer was a career criminal with over 100 offences to his name, including burglaries, violence, intimidating a witness, shoplifting, public disorder and damaging property.

Defence barrister Ian Hudson said Palmer was hooked on crack cocaine at the time and also had an alcohol problem.

Mr Recorder Preston condemned Palmer for a “horrific offence of random violence inflicted on completely innocent people (who) were not young”, adding: