9 years for torturing pensioner to get drugs

Thomas Cameron, 34, attacked George Mercer, 68, in his flat in Glasgow’s Govanhill area in March last year. Cameron, who has a string of previous convictions, was masked when he repeatedly demanded Mr Mercer hand over strong painkillers. He forced Mr Mercer to accompany him around his property as he searched for his drugs. Cameron, a prisoner of HMP Barlinnie, then attacked Mr Mercer, forcing his thumb into one of his eyes, throwing him to the ground, tying his legs together with flex and striking him on the head with a knife. After telling Mr Mercer that he would kill him if he phoned the police, Cameron ran off with a mobile phone and other items belonging to Mr Mercer. Cameron was caught a month following the attack after he robbed an off-licence in Glasgow’s Southside. At the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday, Lord Pentland said Cameron posed a “significant” threat to public safety. The judge said he had no option but to jail him. Cameron was convicted of assault and robbery and armed robbery at the High Court in Dumbarton last month. Sentence had been deferred until yesterday for the court to obtain reports about Cameron’s character. During his trial, the court heard how Cameron broke into Mr Mercer’s property in Bankhall Street, Glasgow, on 24 March. Cameron had been released from prison on licence for another offence at the time of the assault. Passing sentence, judge Lord Pentland ordered that Cameron be placed under supervision by the authorities for four years after being released from his nine-year jail term. He said: “The gravity of your offending is very serious. It is vicious and cowardly.”