A PAIR of robbers who punched and kicked an 85-year-old man in his home, stole a bank card and other items, then drove away in his Land Rover Freelander, have each been jailed for more than seven years.

Anthony Vlahos, 28, and Katherine Pitt, 35, carried out the brutal attack on frail Edwin Powell in Abergavenny two months ago.

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court was told that Mr Powell - who suffered cuts and bruises and a fractured cheekbone - died earlier this month, though his death was not linked to his ordeal.

Prosecuting counsel Alex Greenwood said Mr Powell answered a knock on his front door on the evening of February 14, to find Vlahos, whom he did not know, asking for clothes belonging to Pitt.

Mr Powell had known her, and had recently been stolen from and defrauded by her, and told Vlahos her clothes were not there. But he heard Pitt, hiding near the door, shout "get him, get him".

Vlahos grabbed and pushed Mr Powell to the floor, holding him down. The pensioner was punched in the left eye and mouth.

Pitt went upstairs, then asked for the keys to Mr Powell's Freelander.

"He felt unable to resist and was fearful of a further attack," said Mr Greenwood.

"He was kicked by Mr Vlahos and Miss Pitt whilst on the floor and felt pain in his lower back and kidneys. He thought they were rummaging through his home."

Items taken included a bank card, a mobile phone, a laptop, a small amount of cash, and the Freelander.

"They threatened him, saying he would be "gotten" if he called the police, and telephone wires were pulled out," said Mr Greenwood.

After they left, Mr Powell went to a neighbour's home. The police were called, and he was taken to Nevill Hall Hospital.

The Freelander was spotted and stopped by police shortly afterwards. Pitt, who was driving, was three-and-a-half times over the legal limit, and had no insurance and no licence.

In a victim statement, Mr Powell said he was diagnosed with an undisplaced cheekbone fracture. He was not in good health, had undergone major heart surgery 20 years earlier, and been treated for lung cancer.

He had known Pitt since she was a baby, and had considered her a friend.

She called on him on occasion, but several weeks previously, there had been problems and he called the police when she refused to leave.

Vlahos told police Pitt, with whom he was in a relationship, had "made me do it" (the robbery), and that she was blackmailing him, threatening to abort their unborn child.

Vlahos also told police Pitt had made what Mr Greenwood called "inappropriate and untrue allegations of a sexual nature against Mr Powell".

Pitt, said Mr Greenwood, denied responsibility for attacking Mr Powell, and for stealing property apart from the Land Rover. She had "panicked" when she saw him on the floor "covered in blood".

Vlahos was also sentenced on a charge of possessing a bladed article in a public place - he was found with a knife in Abergavenny last January - and on three charges of breaching the conditions of a sexual harm prevention order.

Pitt was also in breach of a suspended sentence related to a series of thefts and frauds.

Defending Pitt, Andrew Jones said she "fully recognises" the robbery was an "appalling incident".

He added that she is alcohol dependent but, sober in custody, "in the cold light of day, she can see how appalling her behaviour was".

Ben Waters, defending Vlahos, said his behaviour had been "awful and abhorrent".

"It was a very unpleasant incident which he very much regrets," said Mr Waters.

The judge, recorder Nicholas Gareth Jones said he had no doubt the robbery had been planned, and was carried out against a "vulnerable gentleman of 85".

He sentenced Vlahos to a total of seven years and three months in prison, and Pitt to a total of seven years and two months in prison.