Two in court on aggravated burglary charge after attack on pensioner

Two men have been charged with aggravated burglary after an incident in which a pensioner had his life savings stolen.

Christopher Barnett, 26, from Trimdon and Jason Hackett, 23, from Stockton, appeared at magistrates at Newton Aycliffe today charged with the offence.

Both men were given conditional bail and will next appear before Durham Crown Court on Friday, February 24.

The incident, which took place in Coronation, near Bishop Auckland last weekend, saw three robbers launch an attack on a 77-year-old man from Bishop Auckland, leaving him needing hospital treatment.

Police said at the time the man - who lives alone - had gone out in the dark to fetch some coal at the time of the attack, and was then taken into his home where one of the men pinned him down while the other two searched through his belongings.

Durham Police said they then made off with his life savings, which was a "substantial amount of cash."

The pensioner was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital after the incident at 8.30pm on Saturday night, where he was treated for his injuries and later released.

Police inquiries into the incident are continuing and detectives say at least one more arrest is likely.