Man jailed for robbery in Milton Keynes

A man from Suffolk has been jailed for a robbery in Milton Keynes following a police investigation.

Shaun Roadnight, 44, of Second Avenue, Sudbury, Suffolk, was sentenced to 15 years in prison at St Albans Crown Court on Thursday (9/1).

The sentencing came after a jury found Roadnight guilty by majority verdict of two counts each of robbery and false imprisonment, and one count each of Section 18 grievous bodily harm with intent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm following a three-day trial at the same court in September last year.

The incident happened at about 6.15pm on 11 April last year, when the victim, a woman in her thirties, returned to her home in Scotch Firs, Wavendon Gate, in her car, driving up to the closed gates and using her electronic fob to open them.

The victim drove through the gates and parked her car, but did not close the gates as she intended to take the family dog out for a walk.

As the victim stepped through the front door, an offender hit her from behind, causing her to fall onto her back and she saw a man dressed in black bearing down on her.

The victim immediately started to scream and another man instantly and forcefully put his hand over her mouth to stop her.

A man in his fifties was in the office upstairs and heard the screaming so came down the stairs but one of the men grabbed him and started beating him up.

Over the next hour and 45 minutes, the offenders tied both victims to a bed using cable ties, assaulted them, and sprayed the contents of a fire extinguisher over them.

The offenders also smashed a glass bottle over the male victim’s head, dragged them from room to room and down stairs, and asking them where the safe was.

At one point, the male victim saw one of the suspects take a black and gold watch from his bedside table.

The female victim eventually escaped the house and ran out of the front door to a neighbour, who called police.

When Thames Valley Police’s officers arrived, they saw Roadnight acting suspiciously in the grounds of the victim’s address but he then fled through a hole in the fence.

Officers chased Roadnight and found him after a member of the public told them they had seen him discarding some clothing in a bin on the estate. 

Officers located Roadnight and arrested him. A search of his possessions found the watch stolen from victim’s house.

The male victim suffered a bleed to the left side of the front of his brain, three fractured ribs, swelling and bruising over his left eye socket and the left side of his face, bruising over both cheeks and upper jaw, and an abrasion to the right side of his upper back.

The female victim suffered bruising/reddening along her arms, legs and wrists where she was cable tied.

Roadnight was charged on 12 April last year.

Detective Constable Hazel Grant, of the Milton Keynes Priority Crime Team, said, “This was a nasty and vicious assault where the victims were subjected to a prolonged assault not knowing the capabilities of the offenders and whether they would survive the assault.

“The sentence Roadnight received is justified and reflects the gravity of his offences.

“While we did make other arrests in relation to this robbery, we have been unable to charge anyone else and bring the second offender to justice.

“Anyone with information that might help us to do that should call 101 or make a report on our website, quoting reference number 43240164210. It’s never too late to come forward.”