An armed gang who threatened a terrified woman with a crowbar until she wet herself was chased off by a heroic grandma who confronted them.
Filmon Girgish, aged 28, Lukas Olah, aged 25, and Alexander Myettis, aged 20, have all been jailed for their parts in the conspiracy after storming an address in Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire in search of drugs and cash.
They were three of a six-strong gang, armed with flick knives, who interrogated two men inside the property to find out information about their drug dealer, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard.
The men then went to another address again looking to rob narcotics and money. There they threatened a woman with a crowbar - making her so terrified that she wet herself, StokeonTrentLive reports.
But the gang fled empty-handed after being frightened off by a heroic grandma who confronted them and threatened to call 999.
Now Girgish has been jailed for four years,, while Olah and Myettis have been locked up for three and a half years.
Prosecutor Peter McCartney told the court a six-strong gang went to a house in London Road, Newcastle-under-Lyme, at 9pm on June 1 last year as they were aware a previous occupant had been recalled to prison. They found two men inside after entering unannounced.
They threatened to stab and slash the two men as they demanded to know where the drugs were. The prosecutor said: "The defendants then noticed the remnants of some cannabis the two men had been smoking and demanded to know where it had come from.
"The two men were separated. One was left in the sitting room with two men sat either side of him on the sofa. One showed him a knife and said, 'Tell me where they are. Tell me now. Where are the drugs?'.
"The other man was dragged by his arm into the dining room. The description fits Myettis. The man was made to sit in a chair. Girgish sat next to him. He was interrogated.
"They wanted to know who he had bought his cannabis from. He was reluctant to disclose but they became more threatening. Flick knives were produced by two of the men and brandished threateningly.
"The man gave him the information and they began to discuss what to do, including where they thought the dealer kept his money."
The court heard the gang took the man out of the address to the dealer's house nearby. The man tried to run off but was caught.
Mr McCartney said: "He was told if he did anything like that again he was going to be stabbed. They took him back to his house.
"The man managed to communicate with his friend that he needed to get out the house and he ran out the back door, climbed the fence and got away. The victim was walked by the group back to the dealer's driveway. They all started to go down it and the victim managed to run away."
Mr McCartney added: "The dealer was not at home. A woman was in a garage. The gang asked where the weed was. When it became clear she did not know, they asked where the money was. She screamed. One of the defendants took out a crowbar and told her to stop screaming. She was so scared she wet herself at the scene.
"The man's grandmother came out of the house and confronted the defendants. She threatened to call the police and they left."
The defendants were identified by the police from CCTV and were arrested. Girgish, of Century Street, Hanley, Olah, of Dundee Road, Etruria, and Myettis, of Cauldon Road, Shelton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob.
Barry White, mitigating for Myettis, said his client is remorseful. He said: "He is very cross with himself for becoming involved."
He said Myettis is subject to immigration bail pending deportation. He added that no injury was caused and the knife was not used to inflict any injury.
David Farley, representing Olah, said the defendant has been in custody for eight months and has spent 23 hours a day in his cell. He said: "He regrets committing the offence. He has let his family and himself down."
Stuart Muldoon, mitigating for Girgish, said: "He fears he is at risk of deportation at some point once he is released from his sentence."
Judge Paul Glenn added: "This was a joint enterprise involving the production of weapons including flick knives and a crowbar in order to interrogate and intimidate other people. The object of the exercise was to obtain drugs and money.
"As many as six of you were involved at different stages. This was very much a group and gang activity. Your actions caused significant distress to one woman. It has had a psychological effect on her and impacted on her physical health. And there is no doubt she was not the only person affected.
"You produced weapons at various stages of the incident to threaten violence. The obvious inference is that you had them available for use should you meet any resilience. Fortunately it did not get to that stage and no-one ultimately was injured.
"The sentences should trigger automatic deportation, certainly in respect of some of you."
