A MAN armed with a meat cleaver attacked a terrified 62-year-old victim before using the weapon to try and rob a homeowner who turned out to be a relative.

Seasoned criminal Nikki Edmunds, 32, from Pontllanfraith, was jailed for nearly five years after a judge heard of his “bizarre” crime spree.

Richard Ace, prosecuting, said the man in his sixties, Gerald Wilson, feared he was going to be killed as the defendant came at him with the meat cleaver in a completely unprovoked attack.

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Cardiff Crown Court heard how Edmunds terrorised him in Pontllanfraith on the evening of December 4, 2019 when the victim was driving a car with his son-in-law as a passenger.

Judge Paul Thomas QC heard how the defendant and his girlfriend, Kerry Jones, were walking in the road as Mr Wilson was trying to get passed.

The complainant shouted at them to get out of the way before he was attacked.

Mr Ace said: “The defendant began punching and kicking his vehicle and moved to the driver’s door, grabbed him and pulled him out of the car.

“Edmunds had a metal bar and meat cleaver and Mr Wilson was put to the floor. The defendant began to hit him with the weapons as the complainant put up his arms to protect himself.

“He thought he was going to die. His son-in-law shouted at the defendant to get away from him.

“Edmunds hit Mr Wilson two or three times with the meat cleaver before he managed to run back to his car.

“Jones tried to block him and he grabbed her and threw her aside before he got back inside the vehicle.”

Mr Ace said an enraged Edmunds kept going for Mr Wilson. He told the court: “He continued the attack and hit the car with cleaver and bar and told him he was going to kill him.”

Mr Wilson was able to drive off after stopping to pick up his son-in-law.

He suffered from bruising and soreness to his head and arm and his car was dented and the windscreen cracked.

Just 20 minutes after this horrifying attack, Edmunds walked into the home of Sam Rose, also in Pontllanfraith, with a scarf covering his face.

Mr Ace said: “The defendant was almost face-to-face with the man and held the meat cleaver and pointed the blade towards him. The weapon was described as being 10 inches long.

“Edmunds told Mr Rose, ‘Give me your car! Give me your car keys!’ “The defendant then removed the cover from his face and the complainant recognised him and that they were distantly related.

“He told him, ‘Wow Nik! It’s me!’” The defendant replied: ‘****! It’s you’ and then he fled.

Just 24 hours before these attacks, Edmunds had been involved in a high-speed police chase in Newport along Chepstow Road and Hendre Farm Drive after he had taken a Vauxhall Corsa from a driveway when the owner had briefly left the vehicle to go back into his house with the engine running.

The defendant had escaped from the law after shunting a car which had a family inside, including a two-year-old girl.

Edmunds, of Rhymney Close, Pontllanfraith, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery, affray, possessing an offensive weapon, criminal damage and dangerous driving.

Jones, aged 27, of Church Street, Rhymney, admitted a public order offence, breaching a community order for aggravated vehicle taking and allowing herself to be carried in a car.

Mr Ace said Edmunds was a man with a history of violence who had two previous convictions for wounding involving the use of a bottle and baseball bat as weapons.

Christopher Evans, representing him, said: “The defendant’s best mitigation are his guilty pleas.

“He has issues with mental health and alcohol misuse. He wants help and wishes to express his remorse to his victims.”

Ben Waters, for Jones, said his client had also suffered from issues with alcohol and had experienced an abusive relationship.

Her barrister added that the defendant had lost her mother when she was aged 14.

Judge Paul Thomas QC told Edmunds: “You embarked upon what can only be described as a crime spree.

“When you attacked Mr Wilson with the meat cleaver and metal bar, he thought, not surprisingly, that he was going to die.

“Mercifully, he only suffered bruising and soreness.”

The judge described the incident with Mr Rose as the “most bizarre”.

He told him: “You threatened him with a weapon and it was in his own home.

“It turned out he was a relative of yours and you fled.”

Edmunds was jailed for four years and eight months and disqualified from driving for two years and four months from the expected date of his release from custody.

Jones was jailed for six months and banned from the roads for 12 months from her release date.

Both will have to pay a victim surcharge.