Robbers befriended victims before attacking them
Anthony Smith and Denise Yould have been jailed for a combined total of 23 years and four months
- Published
A man and a woman who attacked and robbed vulnerable people in their own homes have been jailed.
Anthony Smith, 42, and Denise Yould, 41, befriended their victims before assaulting them and stealing their wallets and mobile phones, Humberside Police said.
Smith, of Weelsby Street, Grimsby, pleaded guilty to three counts of robbery, fraud by false representation, theft and possession of a bladed article at Grimsby Crown Court on 17 November and was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
Yould, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery and fraud by false representation and was jailed for six years and four months at the same hearing.
Smith was previously arrested in February when he threatened a person he knew with a knife before forcing his way into their property and stealing the victim's bank card and coat, police said.
While Smith was on bail for that offence, he and Yould carried out a second attack on another house robbing two people after assaulting the victims and threatening them with a hammer.
The pair were arrested in March after CCTV footage showed them using stolen bank cards to purchase items from local shops.
Det Con Jak Shepherd said: "At first glance, some might say Smith and Yould's exploits were reminiscent to that of the infamous Bonnie and Clyde in the way they preyed on vulnerable people, robbed and assaulted them all for their own financial gain.
"Smith and Yould's crimes were incredibly intrusive, and each time they had the same MO where they would befriend vulnerable people, gaining their trust to then go on to assault and rob them.
"Nobody should be made to feel unsafe in their own home and, thankfully, no one was seriously injured as a result of their crime sprees."
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