Man, 81, terrorised and robbed in his own home

A PENSIONER aged 81 was forced the floor during a terrifying robbery in his own home as he was targeted by drug addicts.

- By ROB KENNEDY

Danny McGuire Tanya Tait Antonio Harle

Danny McGuire, helped by Tanya Tait, gained entry to the elderly man’s home in Gateshead and used physical force on him before stealing his safe.

It was part of a series of offences carried out by Tait, including an attack on a woman who suffers from multiple sclerosis and was kicked unconscious, suffering a bleed on the brain. She also had her fingerprint used to steal money while she knocked out.

Now Tait, McGuire and Antonio Harle have all been jailed at Newcastle Crown Court.

The first offence happened on July 1, 2023, when a man walking alone on a busy road in Gateshead was approached by three people, including Tait.

They asked him for the time, causing him to take out his phone. Shortly afterwards, the trio returned to take his phone from his pocket and when he resisted, all three of them punched him repeatedly.

The attack was only interrupted by a passing ambulance. The victim suffered a laceration to his eyebrow, a cut to the right side of his face, cuts and scratches to his arms and legs, a lump to his ankle and scratches to his head. Tait pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and a former co-accused has since died, the court heard.

On August 10, 2023, a woman was subjected to a violent attack by Tait and Harle.

The victim, who has multiple sclerosis, was in a flat with them when an argument broke out when Harle accused her of stealing his money.