A drug-addicted thug attacked a man in his home after accusing him of cutting off the internet, weeks before he threatened to burn a woman's retina with a lit cigarette.
During the attack in June last year, Liam Roberts repeatedly kicked and punched the victim at a property in Redruth. The victim, a virtual stranger, had tried to lock himself in a bathroom, but 42-year-old Roberts broke the lock and dragged him out. The victim suffered significant injuries and feared for his life, a sentencing hearing at Truro Crown Court was told.
Roberts, of St Clements Close in Truro, also caused damage at a multi-occupancy property, leaving another man so scared he left to return to his family home. The sentencing hearing on Friday (August 28) heard how Roberts had been on police bail at the time of the incident over some stolen bikes.
A month before, he also knocked a man out outside Redruth cinema. The victim failed to engage with Roberts, who wanted to inject himself with drugs. The man walked away, and Roberts punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground unconscious.
In October, while on bail for the two incidents, he also stuck a lit cigarette in the eye of a terrified woman he was trying to steal from. During that incident, he forced his way into her property and placed a lit cigarette against the woman's eyeball. The heat from the cigarette scratched her cornea, and she needed hospital treatment as a result. The court heard how Roberts was also armed with a knife and threatened to harm the victim's dog.
The latest sentencing hearing over the internet-related violence heard how Roberts, who has a substance abuse addiction, has 26 previous convictions for 70 offences, including 18 crimes against the person. In mitigation for Roberts, Ramsay Quaife said he "craves for a normal life".
His Honour Judge James Adkin said serving prisoner Roberts gave the first victim a severe beating in a prolonged and sustained attack which left him in agony. He jailed him for 38 months for wounding with intent and causing criminal damage, which is on top of the five years and three months and a 10-year restraining order he received for threatening to burn the woman's eye out with a cigarette, which he received in July. Judge Adkin said Roberts will now serve a total of 86 months behind bars.
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Thug Jailed for Home Attack Over Internet Access