A COWARDLY ATTACKER has been jailed for 10 years after robbing an elderly widow of £40 in her own home in order to pay off his drug debts.

Daniel Rowlands, aged 29, of Holly Road, Risca, covered the 68-year-old woman's face with a towel and dragged her across the house in an incident "akin to torture".

Prosecutor David Thomas said the victim, of Dan y Graig Road in Risca, had been putting the rubbish out but forgot to shut the back door on her way back in on January 22 this year.

She was watching Eggheads on television and had knitting on her lap when she felt a towel being thrown over her head, Cardiff Crown Court heard today.

At first she thought it was her grandchildren playing tricks on her, Mr Thomas said.

Rowlands covered her nose and put his gloved fingers into the woman's mouth to prevent her from screaming, the court heard.

He told her: "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want money, I'm in trouble and I want money."

The victim then handed her purse over which contained £40.

Mr Thomas said the defendant dragged the victim through her own home, thrust her into her fridge, before the elderly widow said she wanted the toilet.

The defendant dragged her into the toilet and shut the door while he waited for her outside, the court heard.

Mr Thomas said Rowlands then dragged her into another room and threw her onto a bed. He said the woman feared she was going to be raped.

At one point, the woman fell to her knees from the trauma, Mr Thomas said.

She was then pushed into a cupboard underneath the stairs of her semi-detached house while the defendant ransacked the kitchen, the court heard.

Mr Thomas said the defendant told the woman: "If you call the police I'll be back and I will kill you."

Mr Thomas said the whole incident was "akin to torture".

The court heard the defendant left the house but returned shortly after as he had forgotten his hat.

Rowlands, who appeared in court today via video link from prison, was later found alone in a nearby pub and was arrested. Officers also found a knuckle duster belonging to Rowlands in the toilet of the pub.

He pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of an offensive weapon at an earlier hearing, despite intially denying he had been at the woman's house.

Jeffrey Jones, defending, said his client's only real mitigation was his early guilty plea.

Mr Jones added: "He was desperate and drug dealers were on his back."

Sentencing the defendant, Recorder Huw Rees said: "This was a violent robbery of an aged person in her home.

"She thought she was going to be killed, and all for the paltry sum of £40.

"You threatened to kill her. You had the audacity to return to her home after you left to retrieve an item of clothing.

"Her trauma was an enduring trauma. Attacks on the elderly in their own home is despicable and deserves severe punishment. Any such attack is cowardly."

Mr Rees sentenced Rowlands to six years in prison but extended it by four years due to the aggravating features of the case.

Detective Constable Glyn Mason, of Gwent Police, said: "This was a particularly nasty incident and a very distressing experience for the victim involved.

"The effects of what she went through that evening have been far-reaching, and I want to recognise and thank her for her courage and bravery throughout this investigation.

"The strength of the evidence gathered at the time, and during the subsequent investigation, resulted in a guilty plea from Rowlands. Despite this, Rowlands has continued to show no remorse for his actions."