A MAN and woman who tied up and attacked a man with a hatchet while robbing his home have been put behind bars.
Paul Patterson and Andrea Wilson were both sentenced to eight years and six months after pleading guilty to aggravated burglary at the property in the Hillhead Road area of Ballyclare in Co. Antrim.
They were sentenced at Laganside Court yesterday (March 10) where the court heard the pair forced their way into the house, armed with a hatchet and assaulted a man inside the property on August 20, 2023.
Once inside the pair tied the man up, before hitting him again and proceeding to ransack the house.
Paul Patterson and Andrea Wilson were both sentenced to eight years and six months at Laganside Crown Court“Whilst the victim did not receive life-threatening injuries, this ordeal left him traumatised,” a PSNI spokesperson said following their sentencing,
Patterson, 44, of no fixed abode, and Wilson, 36, of Parkgate Avenue in east Belfast, had both previously pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated burglary with intent to steal, false imprisonment, attempted grievous bodily harm with intent, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage.
They will both serve half of their sentence in custody and half on licence.
“[Their] sentencing offers reassurance that police will work tirelessly to bring offenders before the courts so that the victims receive the justice they deserve,” the PSNI said in a statement.