Burnie man jailed over violent home invasion A DRUG addict who took part in a violent and terrifying home invasion in a bid to steal a non-existent safe has been sentenced to five years in jail. Madison Stuart Ansell, 26, of Burnie appeared before Justice Helen Wood in the Supreme Court in Hobart yesterday. Justice Wood said Ansell, 25, and co-offender Simon Wigg, 26, were armed with a sword and knife when they burst into a home at Irish Town, in the state’s North-West, shortly after nightfall on May 18. They owed a large amount of money to their drug dealer, who had told them the house contained a safe full of cash. One offender entered the kitchen and grabbed a woman by the throat and pressed a knife into her back, telling her not to move or scream or she would be killed, the judge said. The other offender — armed with a sword — confronted a man watching TV and pushed him to the floor, taping shut his mouth and eyes and tying his hands together with tape. The pair then demanded the couple open their safe, despite their claims that they didn’t have one. style=box-sizing: border-box; width: 300px; height: 250px; border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;> They grabbed cash and household items and tied the couple to chairs before telling them they would kill their children and grandchildren if they contacted police within the next hour. The pair fled towards Burnie but crashed their car in a ditch and set off on foot. They were caught hiding under a shack at Port Latta. Justice Wood said Wigg had been sentenced to four years and six months in prison for his role in the crime after confessing to police soon after he was caught. Justice Wood sentenced Ansell to four years and nine months in prison, and ordered he also serve three months of a suspended sentence he breached with his latest crime. He will be eligible for parole after serving half his sentence.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 00:41:14 +0000
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