A woman has been jailed for six years after smashing her way into a flat and robbing the terrified resident. Police have said.
Kelly Luckhurst had been evicted from a multi-occupancy house in Dudley Road, Clacton, and returned on 23 May this year to try and gain entry.
She knocked on the window of the 64-year-old victim’s flat and asked to be let inside, but was refused entry.
She returned during the early hours of 25 May, accompanied by a 17-year-old boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons. They smashed a window with an axe to get inside the building, then tried to force open the victim’s front door.
When that failed, they smashed one of the flat’s windows and climbed through.
The boy held a knife towards the terrified woman while Luckhurst went through her handbag and took her purse and tablet computer.
The victim was threatened and told not say anything, and the boy hid the knife under her bed.
The pair then left the flat and were arrested outside the building a short while later.
Luckhurst, 32, of St Clair Road, St Osyth, admitted robbery on 23 June at Chelmsford Crown Court and was jailed for six years on Tuesday 15 September. She was also made subject of a ten year restraining order.
The teenager, of no fixed address, admitted robbery and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place at Chelmsford Youth Court on 26 May.
He was sentenced on 14 August to a 12 month referral order and ordered to pay £250 compensation. The knife was forfeited and destroyed.
Detective Sergeant Dan Jeffries said: “They used an extreme level of violence and this was a truly horrific incident for the victim.
“Thanks to the quick response from local officers, both Luckhurst and her accomplice were arrested shortly after the incident.
“The strength of evidence we secured meant they could only ever plead guilty to their crimes.
“Fortunately incidents like this are rare, but when they do happen we will do everything we can to bring offenders to justice and keep our community safe.”
