Man jailed after slashing Blackpool pensioner with a knife after breaking into his flat

Nicholas Walsh, 36, of Cambridge Road, Blackpool, has been jailed for 15 years and will serve a further five years on extended licence after a judge deemed him a dangerous offender.

Police were called to the pensioner’s home in the South Shore area at 11.17pm on May 24, 2020 after the 70-year-old victim reported that his neighbour had brought people back to her flat and they had caused damage to the front door.

Officers attended and instructed some of the people in the flat to leave, including defendant Nicholas Walsh.

At 12.41am on May 25, officers received a second call from the pensioner saying he had been robbed in his flat.

The man said he was in bed with his partner when a man, later identified as Walsh, had entered the room with a knife and demanded to know where the money was.

Walsh then slashed the man’s face and forearm with the knife and punched him repeatedly in the face.

Walsh snatched around £900 in cash. When the victim said that Walsh would be leaving him with no money for two weeks, the defendant threw £40 back at him.

Walsh dropped a further £400 when he left the flat, meaning that he escaped with around £500 in total.

He was later captured on CCTV entering a petrol station on Yeadon Way where he got into an argument with a man he had been with earlier in the victim’s neighbour’s flat.

He was wearing no shoes at the time.

A taxi driver later told officers that he had picked up a man who had no shoes on and dropped him off at the petrol station.

An officer attended the petrol station and after viewing CCTV footage identified Walsh and confirmed that she had seen him in the victim’s neighbour’s flat on the night of May 24.

The 36-year-old was arrested on May 26, 2020, close to his home in Cambridge Road, on suspicion of robbery.

During police interview, Walsh denied he was responsible for the robbery.

But he was found guilty of committing robbery following a trial at Preston Crown Court where last week, Judge Robert Altham jailed Walsh for 15 years and ordered him to serve a further five years on extended licence.

DC Darren Woodley, of Blackpool CID, said: “Walsh is a manipulative and cowardly individual who carried out a vicious attack with a weapon on a vulnerable pensioner in his own home – a place he was entitled to feel safe.

“It is worrying feature of this case just how quickly Walsh was prepared to resort to extreme violence.

"I am pleased that the judge recognised that he is a dangerous offender and imposed a sentence with the appropriate provisions for the authorities to monitor him even after he is released.

“Walsh believed that police did not have any evidence linking him to this crime but the jury saw that the facts spoke for themselves and he was responsible for this crime.”