My life flashed before my eyes
JAIL FOR A THUG WHO TRIED TO ROB GEORDIE SHORE STAR
TERRIFIED Geordie Shore star Sophie Kasaei saw her “life flash before her eyes” as an armed thug threatened to stab her as he raided her home.
Ryan Larson posed as a delivery man with a cardboard box when he targeted Sophie’s home armed with a screwdriver two days after Christmas.
When her housekeeper answered the door, he pushed his way in before gripping the reality TV contestant by the arm, demanding access to a safe and making stab threats.
A court heard both women were left shocked and afraid by the ordeal, which ended when Sophie managed to break free from the intruder’s grip and run into the street shouting for help.
Drug addict Larson fled with a £300 Versace shirt but was traced after leaving the cardboard box behind - complete with his girlfriend’s address on it.
Now, the 27-year-old has been branded a high risk to the public and was jailed for six years and seven months at Newcastle Crown Court.
Sophie said in a victim statement read to the court: “I was extremely scared by what I saw.
“I thought he might stab either of us to get money. I saw my life flash before my eyes. I have never felt like that in my entire life.”
Larson approached Sophie’s house in South Dene, South Shields on the afternoon of December 27 last year car- rying a large cardboard box and wearing a hoodie.
He initially knocked on the front door and when there was no answer he went to the back of the house and hid briefly behind a shed, peering through windows.
He then knocked on the front door again and housekeeper Alison McDonald answered it while Sophie came to the top of the stairs.
Prosecutor Jolyon Perks said the defendant pushed his way into the address, shouting ‘Give me the money, do you know who I am, Leon owes me money’.
“Leon is the brother of Miss Kasaei. He also lives at the address. The box fell to the floor having served its purpose.”
At this point it became clear to Miss McDonald that Larson was armed with a large screwdriver, which was in his left hand.
Mr Perks said: “Both complainants were at the bottom of the stairs trying to restrict access but both were clearly very afraid as he was brandishing a weapon.
“He was still brandishing the screwdriver and shouting ‘I’m going to stab you, get the safe, get the money’.
“They continued to fight against him to try to stop him gaining access. Miss Kasaei managed to break free and ran past him into the street and began to shout for somebody to help them.” Larson then ran out of the front door, grabbing a bag containing a £300 Versace shirt.
He jumped over a back fence and fled, discarding the shirt in a neighbour’s garden.
The victims said the intruder appeared to be on drugs and he left behind the box with his girlfriend’s address on it, where he was arrested the following day.
Mr Perks: “The complainant Miss Kasaei at the time and ongoing is a reality TV star.
“The crown say quite clearly her status was known to the defendant and it is in line with his targeting of the address and demands to be given access to a safe.”
The court heard Larson, of Henderson Road, South Shields, has 28 previous convictions including seven weapons offences and he was on a suspended sentence for battery at the time.
He pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and attempted robbery. He must serve two-thirds of the six years and eight months sentence and will be on licence for an additional three years.
Jane Foley, defending, said: “Mr Larson has struggled with drug addiction since he was 13, he is 27 now and had still not learned his lesson.
“He had accrued a significant amount of debt because of his addiction to drugs.
“It was because of the debt he could not pay that he offended.
“He owed £5,000 to a man who told him he was to commit this offence and steal money so his debt could be written off.”