A man has been sentenced to seven years after he entered a 95-year-old woman’s home, grabbed her throat, and tied her up in a terrifying attempted robbery.

Edwin Morrison (24/02/1945), of Manchester Road, Worsley, was sentenced today (15 April) at Manchester Crown Court, after earlier pleading guilty to attempted robbery.

At around 11am on Tuesday 27 January, Morrison knocked on the door of the woman and told her he wanted to discuss the new bin collection date. Without invitation, he then stepped inside under the guise of discussing things further.

Once inside, the woman sat on her armchair, at which point he sat on her pouffe/ footrest, took off his gloves, and put his hand around her throat. As he strangled her, he repeatedly asked for the woman’s money and purse.

Morrison then proceeded to zip-tie her hands together, before again grabbing and squeezing her throat.

As he again demanded money, the woman’s hairdresser arrived at the property and entered the house, where she came across the scene.

The woman shouted for her to call the police, at which point Morrison attempted to grab her as she shut the internal glass door to the living room. Morrison then left, taking the keys and locking the front door behind him.

The woman suffered from some bruising following the incident, but thankfully did not receive serious injuries.

Police were called and an investigation was immediately launched, with specialist officers attending the scene and completing forensic analysis of the home and room.

Comprehensive CCTV enquiries were undertaken and trawls revealed a man arriving at the property, with a nearby Blue Peugeot also captured arriving 10 minutes before the offence and leaving one minute after.

CCTV checks and ANPR enquiries confirmed that the vehicle had been in the area at the time, with the car soon traced back to Morrison. A warrant was obtained and executed just over a day later.

Clothing seemingly worn during the robbery and cable ties were found in his address.

Morrison was arrested and taken into custody for questioning, providing no comment answers about the offence. He was later charged with his offences.

Detective Inspector Paul Davies, from GMP’s Salford district, said: “When this job first came in, we were all shocked by the very nature of it, and we immediately launched a full investigation into the circumstances.

“It was a terrifying ordeal for the victim and Morrison’s actions of targeting a woman in her own home were shocking. Her resilience and strength following this vile crime have been truly inspirational and I am glad that the investigative team have been able to get her the justice she deserves.

“I also want to commend the brave actions of her hairdresser who arrived as the crime was happening. She prevented Morrison from doing anything further, got him out of the living room, and called 999 straight away.

“This investigation has seen countless of hours of work, from initial response to CCTV checks to door-to-door enquiries – from the start, the entire team have done their utmost best which has seen Morrison put behind bars today.”