Two men who tried to break into a garage beside a house in Leighton Buzzard suffered serious injuries when they sped from the scene on a motorbike and came off in a collision.
Taylor Benford suffered 12 fractured ribs and two fractured vertebrae and a year on he is still suffering back problems. His partner-in-crime that night, Ryan Paul, suffered a fractured skull resulting in a bleed on the brain.
On Friday, September 18, 2020, when the pair were sentenced for trying to break into the garage and steal a dirt bike that was being advertised for sale on Facebook, they were told they both bore some responsibility for the injuries they suffered that night.
Recorder Debra Powell QC sitting at Luton crown court told the pair their victims, a husband and wife no longer felt safe in their own home because of what they’d done.” Benford, 24 of Hamer Court, Links Way, Luton and Paul, 23, of Bromley Gardens, Houghton Regis appeared for sentence having earlier pleaded guilty to attempted burglary.
The court heard it was shortly before 11pm on the night of September 10, 2019, that the couple who live in a quiet cul-de-sac in Leighton Buzzard heard a noise from outside their property.
On checking a security camera they could see three males were outside. Recorder Powell was told two were in masks and one had a full crash helmet over his face.
One had a crow bar and another who was acting as a lookout, had a plank of wood.
The court heard the three had arrived at the property that night intending to steal a dirt bike that they knew was being advertised for sale on Facebook.
The sound the couple had heard was the crow being used to try and prise open the garage door where they thought the bike was being stored. The court was told the gang also had two motorbikes ready for a quick getaway.
Recorder Powell was then told the husband shouted at the gang and went outside. As a result of being disturbed they made off on their two motorbikes.
But in Eggington High Street Benford and Paul were involved in a collision with another vehicle and came off the machine they were on. Both were arrested at the scene, but such were their injuries they were immediately taken by ambulance to hospital.
The court was told the effect of the attempt to burgle their home had had deep effect on the couple. The attempt to force open their garage had also caused £800 worth of damage. Josh Scouller for Taylor Benford said his client had been left unconscious at the scene of the collision and remembered very little of that night.
He was still suffering from back problems, said the barrister and because of the Covid-19 pandemic had not been able to have physio therapy sessions.
Mr Scouller said what happened that night had acted as a “wake up call” for Benford who realising he could have been killed, was now determined to support himself and his family by legitimate means and find a job.
Mr John Lloyd-Richards for Paul, said the injuries he had suffered in the collision that night had affected his eyesight and he now had to wear glasses.
He told the court there was an area on the back of Mr Paul’s head that if touched resulted in shooting pains throughout his body.
He said his client was due to have scans to investigate why it was he was passing blood and the injuries he had suffered were likely to have a lastinf effect on him for the rest of his life.
Passing sentence Recorder Powell told the pair the crime had deeply affected the couple. “They no longer feel safe in their own home, they have upgraded their security system and they have bought a large dog to protect them,” she said.
The Recorder said the couple wanted to move, but were unable to and for a while the wife had been to afraid to be in the house on her own. She told Benford and Paul they both bore substantial responsibly for the injuries they had suffered that night.
Both were given a two year jail sentence which in both cases was suspended for two years.
The men were told they would each have to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and both will be subject to a six month electronically monitored home curfew when they will have to be at home between the hours of 8pm and 6am.
They must also complete a 25 day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement to work with probation staff to tackle their offending behaviour and both must go on a Thinking Skills course.
