A 'despicable' joyrider who injured himself during a police chase before he robbed an 86-year-old woman in her home has been jailed. The pensioner tried to come to Shaun Kennelly’s aid after finding him hiding outside her house with an injury to his arm.
Unbeknown to the woman, the man in her garden had hurt himself minutes earlier after leading police on a dangerous car chase through Newark town centre. Within seconds of being invited into the woman’s Newark home to get a bandage, Kennelly suddenly grabbed her around the throat.
He then forced her to hand over all the cash she had in her purse before fleeing the scene – leaving his victim shaken up and with minor injuries. Kennelly, who was wearing no shoes or shirt throughout, carried out the 'callous' attack on June 20, 2022, having gone on a one-man rampage an hour earlier.
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After stealing his mother’s car from her driveway, Kennelly started speeding through Newark town centre, and was spotted driving erratically by police near to the Castle Roundabout. The motorist then ignored officers’ requests to pull over – instead driving on the wrong side of the road at high speed and narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with another vehicle.
Kennelly was at one stage clocked driving at nearly 80mph in a 30mph zone, and after being brought to a stop in Lincoln Street, deliberately drove at a police car to ram his way out. When he again then sped away from police, officers decided to cancel the pursuit, as it was feared carrying on could endanger other members of the public.
Kennelly dumped the damaged car in the Newark Gateway soon afterwards, before fleeing on foot and trying to hide in his unsuspecting victim’s garden. The 25-year-old was arrested the following day but answered “no comment” to all the questions put to him during police interview.
After initially denying any involvement, Kennelly eventually changed his tune and on October 7 pleaded guilty to robbery, dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking, driving while disqualified and criminal damage. Kennelly, of Cross Street, Newark, appeared before Nottingham Crown Court on Friday (January 13), where he was sentenced to four years and five months in prison.
He was also handed a 10-year restraining order against his victim and will be banned from driving for three years following his release from prison.
Detective Constable Lauren Carpenter, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “It’s a damning indictment to Kennelly’s character that his first thought when this kindly woman came to his aid was to rob her in her own home. His actions that day were absolutely despicable, callous in the extreme, and resulted in his victim suffering a horrible ordeal that she in no way deserved.
“As if that attack wasn’t bad enough, Kennelly had also earlier demonstrated a complete disregard for the law by driving in a truly disgraceful manner that put other road users at risk of serious harm. It really should go without saying but this type of behaviour is completely unacceptable and will never be tolerated by Nottinghamshire Police.
“We’re pleased to see that Kennelly is now facing the consequences of his actions and sincerely hope he uses his time in prison to reflect on the mistakes he’s made.”
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