Violent burglar who threatened residents in their Warwickshire home gets his comeuppance just as he was about to board plane for his holiday

And now Louis Barnett will have a long break in jail after he was sentenced last week at Warwick Crown Court to six years' and nine months’ imprisonment for robbery, assault, attempting to steal a motor vehicle and possession of an offensive weapon.

A 32-year-old robber, formerly of Plowden Road, Birmingham, broke into a house at 4.10am in Kingsbury earlier this year. The two occupants inside were woken by an alert on their doorbell camera - and came face-to-face with Barnett, who threatened one of them, demanding his car keys, and assaulted him.

The keys were stolen, and Barnett and his accomplice then attempted to steal two vehicles from the driveway. Fortunately, both vehicles had steering locks on - and having been disturbed by a neighbour, they then made off from the property with only the keys.

Following a forensic examination of the crime scene, Barnett’s blood was found on an inside door handle, and he was added to police systems as a suspect for the offence.

On 7 March, Barnett was arrested at Birmingham airport while waiting to go on holiday.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Christopher Lynch from Nuneaton CID, said: “This robbery was an understandably distressing incident for the victims, who were put through a terrifying ordeal in their own home.

"I would like to express my thanks to them both as they have displayed immense courage throughout the investigation, and I hope this sentence will help to provide them with some sense of closure.

“On the day he was arrested, Barnett was intending on going on holiday. Instead, he’ll now be having an extended stay in prison.”

The second man in the offence was never identified. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Warwickshire Police on 101, quoting incident 22 of 5 March 2024.