TWO men who embarked on a drink and drug-fuelled ‘campaign of terror’ across west Oxfordshire have been jailed.
A court heard that the ‘insane’ hour-and-a-half involved multiple crimes of robbery, burglary and taking vehicles.
Prosecutors described the extraordinary day-time incident as a ‘terrifying crime spree.’
Michael Quilligan, 32, of Crawford Gardens, London, and Grellan McCarthy, 33, of Lady Margaret Road, also in London, appeared at Oxford Crown Court today.
They had admitted a slew of offences of robbery, burglary, and of having cannabis, which all took place on January 13 this year.
Prosecutor Matthew Walsh said the mayhem first unfolded with a break-in at about 4pm in Curbridge, near Witney.
A woman was at her home in the bath when she heard banging from downstairs, followed by a man running upstairs.
Terrified, she called out for the intruder – one of the defendants – to leave, which he did.
Minutes later, one of the men stood on the bonnet of a passing Corsa which had stopped.
With the car blocked from escaping, he began ‘punching the window of the car repeatedly’ before it later drove off.
Next, the men came to a woman who was about to set off in a red Vauxhall Corsa with her young daughter. After struggling to get into the car, the pair then sped off alone.
Soon after, in Fettiplace Road, Witney, they drove into a woman’s car. They confronted her before snatching her car keys, and during the struggle she sustained fracture injuries to her finger.
One of the men then took her car, a Mercedes, but seconds later it ploughed into a garden and had to be abandoned, so they both fled in the stolen Corsa.
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They went on to carry out another violent robbery, taking a woman’s handbag in Springfield Oval, Witney, before moving on to South Leigh to burgle a home, while young children were inside, taking car keys for a Volvo. Police tracked that car and the men were arrested, with a quantity of cannabis, near Chilton.
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In mitigation the court heard the ‘insane behaviour’ had been fuelled by an ‘enormous’ three-day drink and drugs binge.
Sentencing, Judge Ian Pringle QC jailed each of the men for five years and four months for the ‘campaign of terror.’
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