A 21-year-old, who was part of an armed gang which held a robbery victim prisoner in his own home, has been jailed for six years.
The hooded raiders broke into the property on Oldham Road in Failsworth brandishing a hammer and an axe as their victim was relaxing late at night.
Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court was told they wrongly believed he was growing cannabis inside the home.
He wasn’t, and after terrorising him with threats of violence, they escaped with electrical equipment worth £1,200.
Only one of the gang was caught. Lee Holland’s fingerprints were found close to a window through which they got into the house in July, 2009.
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Benjamin Lawrence, prosecuting, said Holland denied his involvement, but was eventually convicted of a charge of aggravated burglary by a majority jury verdict after a trial.
The court was told that the victim, though not physically harmed, had been traumatised by his ordeal.
He was said to have been so badly affected by the experience that he had not wanted to continue living at the address.
Katherine Pierrepoint defending, said her client had been just 19 at the time of the robbery.
She said it was not considered that Holland should be classed as a man who posed a serious danger to the public in the future. The court was told that Holland originally from Oldham, had been living with the parents of his new partner who is heavily pregnant.
Ms Pierrepoint said chef Holland, who gave his address as Fairlands Road, Sale, had managed to stay out of trouble since the robbery. Passing sentence, Recorder Mr Craig Sephton told him that he believed he had turned a corner.
