A man who robbed his dad at knifepoint of cash and a £1,000 watch in his own home has been jailed for four-and-a-half years – despite his loving father’s pleas for leniency.
Steven Grant (37) of Alderminster Road, Coventry, had pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to robbing his father Michael Grant.
Prosecutor Charles Crinion said that in October last year Michael Grant left his home secure when he went out at around 6.30pm to get some food.
When he returned he found the garage door was damaged, but the door from the garage into the kitchen was still locked.
When he went inside he found his son, who had been staying there on and off, in the kitchen, clearly on drugs, which he had been taking since he was 14.
Grant seemed aggressive, and was holding a knife by his side, but with the blade pointing towards his father as he demanded money.
Michael Grant said he only had £15, which he gave him, but Grant said he must have more than that, and followed him when his father went upstairs.
Scared because Grant was still holding the knife, Mr Grant took off his watch, which was worth between £1,000 and £1,200, and threw it at him.
Grant picked it up and left the house through the front door, and his father called the police.
As he waited for them to arrive, Mr Grant saw a shadow in the garage and, realising Grant was returning, he ran from the house and called the police again before going to a neighbour’s home.
He then had a call from the police to say they were at his address, where they had found Grant inside, added Mr Crinion.
Niall Skinner, defending, said Grant, who had a number of previous convictions, had had an addiction to cocaine for many years, ‘and a need for funds to acquire it.’
But although the judge was handed a letter from Grant’s father, Mr Skinner conceded: “Mr Grant realises the chances have run out.”
Jailing Grant, Judge Richard Griffith-Jones told him: “I have no doubt your father would want nothing more than to see you at home as quickly as possible.
“Your parents obviously love you, and don’t like this situation one bit.
“But it is not up to them to decide the sentence. There are guidelines which have to be followed, and this was but another episode in a long history of difficulties with you.
“Although you have problems, they don’t diminish your responsibility for this offence. It is your fault you’re using drugs so that you become so desperate for those drugs that you do this.”
