A drinker befriended a man at a pub before robbing him at knifepoint in his own home.
Adam Baker met the victim in a pub in Bootle and was invited back to his home to keep drinking.
However, hours later, after gaining the man’s trust, Baker used a knife from the kitchen to threaten the man into giving him his bank card and pin number.
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Baker, 30, and an accomplice then stole hundreds from his victim’s account.
Chris Taylor, prosecuting, said the victim had been drinking with his partner and friends in the Cooksons Bridge pub on July 14 this year. He said the group then started chatting with Baker and his friend over drinks and later decided to invite them back to the victim's home nearby.
The victim's partner and friends later left but him, Baker and the other man, who has not been identified, remained in the home. Mr Taylor said: “They all continued to drink and the victim said they all continued to get along quite well - but at 3.30am the mood appeared to change.”
Mr Taylor said the victim later told police Baker and his accomplice became standoffish and he saw one of them rifling through a kitchen draw. Uncomfortable, he offered to call them a taxi. When it arrived, Baker said he did not have the money to pay and asked for the victim's bank card.
The victim instead offered him some cash - but at this point Baker revealed a knife hidden in his sleeve and demanded the bank card and his pin number. Though Baker never pulled the knife out from his sleeve, the victim later told police he believed Baker may have attacked him had he refused to hand over his belongings.
Baker’s accomplice watched as the robbery took place and both men then got in the taxi, went to a bank machine and withdrew two lots of £250. The victim quickly contacted police and cancelled the card and Baker was arrested days later and pleaded guilty to robbery. His friend has not been found.
Rory McCormack, defending, said Baker, whose previous convictions include assault, had been drinking heavily in the weeks leading up to the incident and said he believed his abuse of alcohol was a significant factor in what he did. Mr McCormack said: “It does appear that substance abuse has played a very significant role in his offending behaviour.”
Jailing Baker, Judge David Aubrey KC told him that in robbing the victim in his own home he had violated the place where his victim should feel safest. Baker, of Pall Mall, Liverpool, was jailed for four years and one month and a restraining order prevents him from contacting the victim for five years.
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