'Brutal' burglar found covered in blood after stabbing pensioner in head jailed for nine years
29 May 2021, 18:41 | Updated: 29 May 2021, 18:45
A "brutal" burglar who was found covered in blood by West Midlands Police after stabbing a pensioner in the head has been jailed for nine years.
Andrew Bowering, 26, broke into the 82-year-old's home on Croft Street, Willenhall, in the early hours of 27 December last year.
After carrying a television into the garden, the attacker returned to the property to steal more items. He was then disturbed by the pensioner who was woken by Bowering rummaging through drawers.
The 26-year-old - who was on prison release licence after previously being jailed for a shop raid - stabbed the old man three times in the legs and once in the head.
Police were alerted by neighbours who heard shouting from the house and Bowering saying: “Where are your car keys? Do you want me to stab you?"
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Officers arrived within minutes and found the knifeman naked from the waist down and wearing a T-shirt covered in blood.
Bowering undressed after realising he could not escape, police said.
When officers arrived, the attacker claimed he was the pensioner's grandson and had been living at the address.
He told them he had challenged an offender who had broken into the house.
However, the police quickly realised the 26-year-old was the attacker and he later admitted wounding and aggravated burglary.
Bowering was jailed for nine years after appearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court on 27 May.
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The investigating officer, detective constable Mandy Dorrington, said: “This was a brutal, totally unwarranted attack on an elderly man. He posed no threat to Bowering, yet he lashed out several times with a knife and also left the man with a broken nose.
“Thankfully the victim has gone on to make a good recovery but we could easily have been looking at very serious, possibly fatal stab injuries.
“Our officers quickly saw through Bowering’s claim to be the man’s relative and he was arrested just a few minutes after the attack.
“I wish the victim well for the future and hope the jail sentence handed to Bowering will offer him some comfort."
