Man jailed after violent crime spree ends in Horley garden

Bernard Hicks, 40, threatened a pregnant woman with a screwdriver in front of her children before officers brought his rampage to an end in a Horley garden.

A Surrey Police spokesman said Hicks, of Edgefield Close, Redhill, was sentenced on Friday (January 8) after he pleaded guilty to attempted robbery, robbery, dangerous driving and driving without insurance in the Merstham and South Nutfield area.

Hicks attempted to steal a car from a pregnant woman parked outside a school in Delabole, Merstham, on November 10 2015. He opened the driver’s side door, grabbed her by the neck and threatened her with a screwdriver in front of her children. A police spokesman said she defended herself and managed to push him away after he made a grab for the keys from the ignition.

Just minutes later he stole a black Alpha Romeo from a driveway in Malmstone Avenue. Hicks approached the woman sitting in her car and threatened her with a screwdriver before violently pulling her from the vehicle by her hair.

He robbed a post office moments later in Mid Street in South Nutfield. Hicks entered the store at around 5.15pm and threatened a member of staff pushing her to the floor, before ripping the till from the counter and making off in the stolen car, police said.

Officers located Hicks driving dangerously in Woodside Crescent in Smallfield and after a short pursuit he was brought to a stop in the front garden of a property in Stonecourt Close in Horley and arrested.

Detective Sergeant, Joseph Easterbrook, said: “Thanks to the quick actions of our officers and a member of the public who reported Hicks’ dangerous driving, we managed to locate and arrest him before he caused any further harm.

“Hicks is a violent man whose careless and reckless actions have caused a great deal of distress to his victims and the local community.

“Thankfully the victims escaped un-harmed but the outcome could have been very different.”

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