A drug addict who exploited a pensioner to fund his habit busted himself to police.
Kieron Gill was jailed for robbery after he repeatedly ‘booted’ vulnerable David Bell in the face to extract cash from him.
The court heard Gill initially denied the offence but that his position was severely undermined by what he told police after he was arrested.
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Gill launched into a violent attack on Mr Bell in the victim’s own Anfield flat just days before Christmas 2020.
That Richmond Court property had been taken over by crack cocaine smokers and drinkers - including Gill.
Police were called to the home on December 20, first by Gill, who reported Mr Bell was being assaulted by “two smackheads”. A further 999 call was made by Mr Bell, though his report appeared to be “guided” by Gill.
Officers attended and arrested Gill and two other drug users.
Chris Hopkins, prosecuting at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, said: “They [the other two suspects] both said that the defendant was abusing Mr Bell and demanding money from him. They said the defendant kicked Mr Bell, possibly with a stamp-like kick.”
One said that Mr Bell handed Gill some money and that Gill then said: “I told you he would have something.”
Mr Bell did not make a complaint or provide his details to police - leading to the court being told he was simply believed to have been around 75 at the time of assault.
His decision not to provide evidence could have hampered efforts to bring his attacker to justice.
But while in custody, Gill told officers: “I want to confess something, I did beat him up, yes.”
The 31-year-old explained he and other crack cocaine users and drinkers would use Mr Bell’s home as a base and he would take money from his victim to fund his drug habit.
Gill continued: “Basically, I was just taking the p*** out of him and lost the plot and booted him.”
He admitted kicking him in the face four or five times then asking Mr Bell to ring the police and blame it on other people. He said he had taken hundreds of pounds from his victim and had once taken him to a cash point on Breck Road to get more money.
Gill said Mr Bell was “easy” to exploit and, asked by police what Mr Bell did during the attack, the defendant said he was crying: “Please don’t hurt me, lying on his couch with a blanket on his head.”
Mr Hopkins said Mr Bell was found with fractures to his ribs and left collarbone and bruising to his face. However, investigators were unable to conclusively attribute all of the injuries to Gill’s attack and so he was prosecuted solely for the kicks to his head. They were also unable to find evidence to back up the claim Gill had taken Mr Bell to a cash point, and so he was not prosecuted over that.
The court heard there were questions over the evidence provided by the two witnesses, the victim had decided against giving details of the incident, and Gill had denied robbery when the matter first appeared in court.
But the strength of his confession while in custody undermined that position and Gill eventually admitted the offence.
This led Judge Anil Murray to conclude: “It is perhaps not likely you would have been brought to justice without your admissions.”
Judge Murray said that suggested Gill felt genuine remorse.
Martin Walsh, defending, had said: “Mr Gill was a man who was effectively obsessed with, and in the grip of, crack cocaine and alcohol. He tells me that he was almost out of his mind during this period. He accepts responsibility for what he did.”
Mr Walsh said his client’s eventual guilty plea was his strongest point of mitigation.
Gill, already in jail for other offences, was sentenced to five years and three months in jail. Had he pleaded guilty at his first opportunity, his sentence would have been months shorter because the earlier a defendant admits their guilt, the more 'credit' they receive.
Upon clarifying the length of his sentence with the judge, he told him: “Yeah, no worries.”
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