A man was bound, gagged and beaten for over two hours as drug addled thugs robbed him of cash, his keys and his phone. He had met Rebecca Wilde, 45, in Stockport town centre before being invited back to her flat on Lancashire Hill.
Michael Hollinshead, 41, Joey Peers, 43, and Paul Dixon, 37, were also at the flat and, after taking crack cocaine, Hollinshead demanded money from the man. When he refused, he tied him up with rope, provided by Wilde, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Over two hours and 20 minutes he was repeatedly punched whilst Hollinshead demanded he hand over his PIN number for his bank card. During that time, Wilde, Peers and Dixon went to a nearby Asda and bought booze.
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The man was eventually released, with Hollinshead saying they would ‘knife him’ if he reported what happened to the police. Today (March 10), all four were jailed.
Jacob Dyer, prosecuting, said that on November 30 2021, the man, an Iranian national, was in Stockport town centre when he was met by Wilde who invited him back to her flat at Hanover Towers.
At around 2.30pm they went inside, and the three men were already there, he said. Drugs were taken, including crack cocaine, with the men asking where the man lived and what he was doing.
He was then asked if he had any money and he said no and got up to leave but Hollinshead pushed him back onto the sofa, produced a knife and began waving it at him saying: “If you move, I’ll kill you.”
He was told to empty his pockets but he protested, saying he had done nothing wrong and asked to leave. They refused and he was bound by his ankles and hands with plastic rope. He was also blindfolded and had a scarf shoved into his mouth.
“His keys, wallet containing cash and his phone were taken from him. Hollinshead demanded his PIN number and at one stage a heated spoon was put onto his stomach,” Mr Dyer said.
“He was punched a number of times as he begged him to leave him alone. Hollinshead also showed him his penis and said he would ‘shove it up his a***’. Hollinshead conducted a lot of the violence but it’s clear others were involved.”
At one point the victim asked Wilde for help but she replied: “Just tell them the PIN and I can ask them to leave you alone.” They threatened to throw him out of the window whilst he was still tied up and he received further punches.
At 4.15pm, Wilde, Dixon and Peers were captured on CCTV leaving the flat to go and buy booze with the man’s card. Hollinshead was left alone with the man, at one stage making a phone call and asked if the card was being used.
They later returned to the flat and shortly after the man was freed. He asked for his keys and mobile phone but was told to shut up and was escorted outside.
Hollinshead told him they would follow him and ‘knife him’ if he sought help. Once outside he fled and asked for help from a member of the public who called the police, but they didn’t attend.
He managed to beg a local shopkeeper for cash to get the bus home and his sister called the police before he was taken to hospital. He was left with a black eye, multiple bruises and four broken ribs.
CCTV was recovered from two nearby Asda stores which showed Wilde using the man’s card to buy alcohol that afternoon.
Hollinshead and Wilde were arrested but provided no comment to the police in an interview. Dixon and Peers both told officers that Wilde had approached them asking for help to remove three people from her flat. They denied any assault or robbery took place.
They have all since pleaded guilty to robbery, with Hollinshead admitting further offences of false imprisonment, threat to kill and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Wilde also admitted two offences of fraud.
In a victim personal statement, the man said he has recovered from his injuries and that he is pleased ‘the people have admitted what they did’ to him.
Hollinshead was said to have previous convictions for assault and possession of an offensive weapon; Wilde has previous convictions for handling stolen goods and bringing items into prison; Peers has convictions for assault and robbery; and Dixon has convictions for theft and affray.
Adam Brown, mitigating for Hollinshead, said it was ‘spontaneous and unplanned’. “It’s clear there is a change in the defendant’s attitude,” he said.
For Wilde, Patrick Harris said his client suffers from learning difficulties and has been diagnosed by a psychologist to have the mental age of between nine and 12-years-old. He said she also has autism.
“This has been a difficult time for her in custody, she has spent much of that time in isolation on the vulnerable persons wing,” Mr Harris said. “She is eligible for care approved premises. She was involved through coercion and exploitation.”
For Dixon, Robert Smith said he ‘did not tell the truth’ in his police interview for concern about repercussions. And for Peers, Paul Treble said his client had good victim empathy and has since disassociated from certain people.
The judge, Recorder Andrew Long, said: “He was undoubtedly terrorised by your actions, I have no doubt it would have taken him a long time to recover psychologically.”
Finding him to be a dangerous offender, Hollinshead, of Ashburton Road, was jailed for six years to serve an extended period of two years on licence.
Of Wilde, he said she was a vulnerable person and therefore ‘liable to exploitation’. She was jailed for 28 months.
Peers, of Broomfield Drive, and Dixon, of Hodder Bank, were both jailed for five years.
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