THREE women who admitted robbing an 89-year-old man of cash at his Wrexham flat were each locked up for 18 months.

Mold Crown Court heard that the pensioner was in poor health and used a walking stick. He was awaiting a heart pacemaker at the time of the robbery in Poyser Street when £75 was stolen from his wallet.

Prosecutor Karl Scholz said the victim had allowed access to the block of flats after hearing a bell. But after going into a corridor he was pushed back into his flat by Cheri Torrence, 21, and 20-year-old Jemma Richards. Ceri Jones, 29, stood at the door.

“He was petrified by the incident, by the aggression shown towards him. They appeared hyped up, as though they were high on drugs,” Mr Scholz added.

Maria Masselis, defending Torrence, of Pen y Bryn, Wrexham, said she went to the block of flats to visit her uncle and the robbery was “opportunistic”. She was sorry.
Torrence was now on the heroin substitute methadone.

Barrister Myles Wilson, for Richards, of Trevenna Way, Wrexham, said she had used drugs since the age of 15. She was remorseful.

Jones, of New High Street, Ruabon, was also a heroin addict, the court heard.

Judge John Rogers QC said the pensioner had been pushed although not violently. “This was a planned robbery of a vulnerable victim,” he added.