29 November 2023 , 15:07
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A pregnant woman was brutally mugged at a cash machine by a dangerous offender, who wrestled her to the ground and pushed her into the road.
Sarah Davies, 36, was handed an extended sentence for what was her fifth robbery. Davies used her legs to put the victim in a neck lock before shoving her into the road. When police arrived to arrest her, she barricaded herself in her flat with a wardrobe and hurled abuse at them.
After forcing entry, officers found Davies attempting to escape through a window, wearing only her underwear. Swansea Crown Court heard that Davies has over 60 previous offences to her name, with her first robbery committed as a teenager.
Sending the defendant to prison, a judge said the time had come for a court to decide whether she was a danger to the public, Wales Online reports.. Dean Pulling, the prosecutor, said Davies and her victim, Gemma Edwards, spent a day together at Davies' flat where she was acting "erratic". Later, Miss Edwards called her friend, 71-year-old Stuart Lapping, for a ride home and Davies joined them. They stopped at a post office in Swansea so Miss Edwards could use the cash machine. Suddenly, Davies tried to snatch her cash and punched her.
The court heard that Davies wrapped her legs around the neck of her pregnant friend during their tussle on the pavement. Mr Lapping tried to break up the fight with his walking stick. After managing to stand up, Miss Edwards was pushed by Davies into the road. She and Mr Lapping managed to escape in his car, only to realise later that his phone was missing.
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The police were alerted to the incident, and on September 19 officers went to Davies' flat. The court was told that she started yelling at the officers and wouldn't let them into her home, using a wardrobe to block the entrance. The police had to use a lock-snapper device to get in and found Davies - who was only wearing underwear - trying to escape through a window. She was arrested and didn't answer any of the questions asked.
Davies, of Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to robbery and theft when she appeared in the dock for sentencing. She has 42 previous convictions for 64 offences including burglary, drugs matters, public disorder, assault, and four robberies and attempted robberies. The first robbery happened in 2007 when Davies was a teenager; the second in 2011 when she grabbed a woman and robbed her of her mobile phone in McDonald's in Swansea; the third robbery offence - an attempted robbery - happened in The Office pub in Swansea in 2011 when she hit a woman in the face with a glass leaving a cut; and the fourth and final robbery happened in 2017 when she went to her aunt's house demanding money for drugs. Davies received custodial sentences for each of these robbery offences.
Andrew Evans, defending Davies, explained that she had been a long-term heroin addict but was now a "sporadic user" of controlled substances. He said it was clear that on the day of the Clase robbery Davies had "taken or been given" substances which had a significant effect on her. Recorder Neil Owen-Casey noted that the victim of the robbery had been vulnerable due to her pregnancy, and the incident had involved significant force. He acknowledged that Davies had experienced "a very difficult adult life" and had been "ravaged by drug abuse".
The recorder said he was satisfied an extended sentence as a dangerous offender was necessary. With a discount for her guilty pleas Davies was given a 70-month extended sentence comprising 52 months in custody followed by an 18-month extended sentence. The defendant will must serve two-thirds of the custodial element of the sentence before she can apply for release but it will be for the Parole Board to determine if she is released.
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