A 'DANGEROUS' man who attacked a pizza delivery driver, stole his moped and violently attacked another man with a hammer on the same night has been jailed.
Billy James Francis O'Brien, 25, of Carmichael Road, South Norwood, was jailed for eight years for his horrific actions on one April evening.
On Sunday, April 6, at approximately 9.50pm at Cromwell House in Old Town, Croydon, O'Brien attacked a pizza delivery man and stole his moped.
He then drove the moped to a house in Grassmere Road in Woodside and started banging on the front door at around 10.15pm.
A woman answered the door and O'Brien demanded to speak to her son before pushing her to the floor, entering the property and shouting her son's name.
The woman's husband then appeared and tried to speak to him to get him to leave which is when O'Brien, standing in the porch, produced a hammer from his left sleeve.
He hit the woman's husband with the hammer on the forehead, causing him life-changing injuries.
O'Brien then fled the scene before officers found him located him in Heathhurst Road, South Croydon after a search.
A struggle took place as he attempted to evade capture but he was detained and taken into custody.
He was charged with the robbery and aggravated burglaryon April 7 and was sentenced to eight years imprisonment at Croydon Crown Court on October 3 after pleading guilty to both offences.
He was also convicted for an earlier offence in Brighton Road, Purley, on March 18, where he robbed a man at knifepoint and took his Audi TT.
DC Martin Stocker, investigating officer for Croydon MPS, said: "O'Brien is a very dangerous individual and I am pleased that he was handed a substantial custodial sentence which reflects this.
"O'Brien used an extreme form of violence (producing a hammer) which could have caused the victim to receive life changing injuries, thankfully he made a full recovery.
"Any forms of violence in Croydon will not be tolerated and we will take the necessary steps to ensure that those involved in this criminality will be brought to justice."
