Finedon thug battered pensioners in their own homes

He left one with a broken jaw
Ian Moore has been jailed.Ian Moore has been jailed.
Ian Moore has been jailed.

A vicious thug who battered two defenceless pensioners in their own Finedon homes in a drug-fuelled rage has been jailed for five years.

Ian Moore, 47, broke one man's jaw before attacking a second minutes later in a terrifying ordeal which saw his victim make a desperate bid to escape.

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Today (Wednesday) at Northampton Crown Court a judge ruled Moore - who had previously fractured a man's skull and left a woman in intensive care - posed such a risk to the public that he had to be given an extended sentence.

Moore's first victim, a man in his 60s, was at his house in Thrapston Road at lunchtime on June 29 this year when he heard a knock on his door.

He opened the door to find Moore and a woman outside and the court heard they barged in before he was subjected to a sickening assault.

Prosecuting, Henry James said: "In his words, they battered him."

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The victim was thrown to the floor, punched and kicked in the face while he was on the ground. The woman Moore was with was not arrested, a police spokesman said.

The court heard Moore, who appeared over videolink from HMP Peterborough, left the house to go to a shop but made a diversion and entered the second victim's flat minutes later in Allen Road.

A man in his 80s walked into his dining room and found Moore sitting in his swivel chair.

Mr James said: "He asked "what are you doing here?"

"His response was "where is your f****** money?""

In a horrendous ordeal which lasted between five and ten minutes, Moore grabbed him and threw him around his flat, hitting furniture and a cooker.

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The victim tried to escape but it was an "unequal contest", the court heard.

To add insult to injury Moore tipped the contents of a coin jar over the victim as he lay helpless on the floor.

Moore later told him: "I am going to kill you."

Just after 1pm police and paramedics arrived at the first victim's home and found him bloodied and confused.

He was taken to hospital with a broken jaw, cuts and bruises and later picked his attacker out in a video identification parade.

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Soon afterwards they found second victim at his flat with three lacerations to his head, the biggest being 10cm long, and bruises over his body.

Moore, of Thrapston Road in Finedon, was found hiding in a shed and was arrested after police arrived with a Taser to capture him, before giving no comment answers when he was interviewed.

He was charged, originally with GBH with intent and robbery, and police said the victims were attacked with a walking stick but Moore was not sentenced on that basis today. Last month he admitted two counts of GBH without intent.

The court heard he has convictions for 44 offences dating back to 1997 including a series of violent crimes. His record includes a GBH involving a metal wrench, another GBH which left the victim with a fractured skull and a third where a woman was beaten so severely she was placed into intensive care.

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The court heard a report had determined that he was at risk of causing a domestic homicide.

Mitigating, Liam Muir said he accepted that Moore would be sentenced to time behind bars but that he had been a "model prisoner" while awaiting his sentence.

He said that before the attack he was doing well until Covid-19 meant he was unable to work and he fell back into drugs, but that he has impressed so much in custody that he has two job offers for when he is released.

He said: "This is a man who is making a real effort to change."

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Sentencing, His Honour Judge David Herbert QC said the incident had left both of Moore's victims terrified.

Addressing Moore about the impact on his second victim, he said: "He feels devastated by what happened and does not know if he will ever feel safe in his home anymore."

Judge Herbert ruled Moore's violent past meant he posed such a danger that he should face an extended sentence.

The thug was jailed for a total of five years and will spend a minimum of three years in prison.

When he is released on parole he will be subject to an extra two years on licence, and will be recalled to prison if he breaks the conditions of his release.