Masked raider robbed his grandmother, 79

A MAN was jailed at the Old Bailey yesterday for robbing his grandmother at knifepoint.

Michael Weights, 24, pushed past Rose Weights, 79, brandishing the knife and wearing a handkerchief over his face when she opened her front door at 8.30am.

Warwick McKinnon, for the prosecution, said that the pensioner became shocked and weak. 'She then recognised him as her grandson.'

The court was told that when his grandmother collapsed, Weights realised that his actions might have made her seriously ill. He helped her sit down and began to sob before throwing the knife away. He told her he had only done it because he needed money. She gave him pounds 10 and he left.

The pensioner was persuaded to contact the police by her son, the defendant's step- father.

Weights, of Plaistow, east London, admitted aggravated burglary on 7 June.

Jailing him for two years, Judge Christopher Tyrer said: 'This woman was one of the few people in your life who . . . implicitly trusted you. You invaded her home and gave her the fright of her life.'