Judges double jail term for thug who attacked man in his own home

A THUG who violently attacked a vulnerable man in his Yorkshire home has had his jail term doubled by leading judges.

Bernie Ward was drunk when he bullied and repeatedly punched Adrian Betts after being invited in to the victim’s home in Sheffield.

Ward, 32, of Dorchester Road, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, also threatened the victim with a knife, stabbing it into a wall behind him while demanding cigarettes.

The blade sliced Mr Betts’s shoulder after getting caught in his dressing gown.

Mr Betts, 58, had previously suffered a stroke and Ward, who was a family friend, knew he was vulnerable.

The victim’s ordeal came to an end after a medical alert he was wearing was pressed and his family were contacted.

Mr Betts was left with cuts and bruising to his face, a stab wound to his shoulder and a bleed on his brain following the attack in January.

Ward admitted grievous bodily harm and attempted robbery and was jailed for three years and four months at Sheffield Crown Court in April.

But his sentence was increased to six years and eight months at the Court of Appeal in London yesterday after three senior judges ruled the original term was “unduly lenient”.

Speaking after the ruling, Solicitor General Robert Buckland said: “Ward targeted a victim he knew to be vulnerable and subjected him to a brutal attack in his own home.

“I hope that the Court of Appeal’s decision today sends a clear message to anyone despicable enough to consider abusing a vulnerable member of their community – you will not escape justice.”