Ex-soldier turned robber jailed
A former soldier from Halifax who attacked a woman as she used a cash machine in Halifax town centre has been jailed for more than three years.
Matthew Nixon, 36, was said to have been “riddled” with a cocaine addiction and struggling with life when he shoved the woman away from the machine in Commercial Street on a dark December evening last year and grabbed the £30 she had been withdrawing.
Bradford Crown Court heard how Nixon gestured with his outstretched arm to discourage the woman from intervening before he fled with the cash.
Prosecutor Jonathan Sharp said Nixon, of Mount Pleasant Avenue in Halifax, saw the woman using the machine at about 5pm and had waited a few feet away as she used her card and entered her PIN.
He said Nixon, who had his hood up, pushed her away with both hands causing her to fall against a parking payment machine.
The attack was captured on CCTV and, after an image was circulated, Nixon was identified by a police officer.
In her victim impact statement, the victim said she no longer felt safe and was scared to go out on her own.
Nixon was jailed for three years after he admitted the robbery charge and he was also sentenced to an additional three months in prison after pleading guilty to two offences relating to two dangerous dogs who had been involved in an attack on a woman back in February last year.
Mr Sharp said the two German Shepherd dogs, which belonged to Nixon’s then partner, were let out unsupervised by him onto a recreational area.
The court heard that when Nixon called the dogs back in they did not respond and he went back inside the house.
Soon after screaming could be heard as at least one of the dogs bit a woman as she walked to her home.
In her victim impact statement, the victim she said she was already scared of dogs prior to the attack and her injuries had affected her daily life and work.
Barrister David Morton, for Nixon, said his client’s life at the time of the offending had deteriorated and he was “riddled” with a cocaine addiction.
The court heard that Nixon appeared to be suffering from PTSD and had seen a friend killed during his experiences in Afghanistan.
But Mr Morton said Nixon was now drug-free and had been directed towards a course designed to help veterans from the armed forces with their experiences.
Judge Ahmed Nadim said at the time of the offending Nixon had shown no regard or respect for either the law or the community that he lived in.
He said Nixon had offered no assistance or comfort to the woman injured by the dog and the robbery had been an attack on woman going about her ordinary business.
“You were a member of the armed forces.
"You served in Afghanistan and you say you carry the scars of that experience,” said Judge Nadim.
“You may, it is said, have been suffering from PTSD at the relevant time.
“Whether you were suffering from that or not you were at the time drinking and abusing drugs which in effect created the backdrop for these offences.”