A DRUG addict who robbed a 66-year-old woman at knifepoint in her own home was today (Friday June 19) jailed for ten years.

Gavin Redpath watched the pensioner as she returned home, having completed a volunteer shift at a local foodbank, shortly before 1.45pm, on April 29.

Shortly after she entered the premises, in Dipton, near Stanley, County Durham, Redpath knocked at the door.

When she answered, he pushed her inside before producing a 12in-bladed knife.

Durham Crown Court heard that he thrust her onto the stairs and held the knife to her throat, but she instinctively tried to fend it off, suffering a cut between her left thumb and fore-finger.

Jonathan Walker, prosecuting, said Redpath told her: “Shut up, shut up, I’m going to rob you.”

He held the knife to her throat and told her: “I’m a drug addict and I need £30.”

When she got up to get her purse he followed her with the knife held at the nape of her neck.

Mr Walker said the victim had to pay Redpath with money she held from church funds, but he left, calmly walking away, refusing her requests to give his name or to leave the knife.

The woman alerted a neighbour who contacted police, and Redpath, who pestered the nearby newsagent for money earlier that morning, was arrested at his family’s home address, in Dipton.

Although he was picked out from an identity parade, he denied responsibility.

But, 37-year-old Redpath, of Raisenside Farm, Dipton, admitted robbery and possessing a knife in public at a previous court appearance.

The court heard the victim suffered cuts and grazes to the front and back of her neck, plus the injury to her left hand.

She chose to read her own victim statement in court, having, as part of Durham Police’s pilot restorative justice process, elected to meet the defendant in supervised circumstances in prison, earlier this week.

She told the court that, since the incident, she has felt uneasy at home, and it has only been with the help of her son that she has been able to overcome her ordeal.

She said, however: “I will not be a victim the second time and I’m carrying on with my life."

Stephen Constantine, for Redpath, told the court he had little memory of the incident as he was suffering withdrawal symptoms, trying to overcome his addiction, at the time.

But he added that he was remorseful for his actions and has willingly gone along with the restorative justice process.

Jailing Redpath, Judge Christopher Prince said he clearly targeted what was a, “vulnerable victim, in her own home.”