A charity worker and her friend tortured a frail pensioner before stabbing him in the neck and trying to suffocate him in a drug-fuelled four-hour attack after breaking into his home.

Amy Squires, 27, and 28-year old Megan Stafford broke into Edward Alcock's home at 4am following an all-day lager and crack cocaine binge.

The depraved pair left the 78-year-old fighting for his life as they tortured him for information about where he kept his valuables.

During the savage attack, which lasted four hours, the pair stabbed the pensioner in the neck - leaving blood pouring from his neck - and then tried to suffocate him with a plastic bag.

Amy Squires (left), 27, and 28-year old Megan Stafford (right) broke into Edward Alcock's home following an all-day lager and crack cocaine binge before beating him and stabbing him

Despite insisting he had no money, Stafford squeezed his nostrils so he couldn't breathe and told him: 'Die you b*****, die.'

The pair then ripped out the phone lines at the flat so the victim could not ring for help.

Later, as Mr Alcock lay critically injured on the floor, mother-of-two Squires wrongly assumed the pensioner was dead and said: 'We're going down for a long time anyway.'

Then, as Stafford suggested torching the flat to destroy evidence, Squires battered Mr Alcock over the head with an ornamental figurine adding: 'I'm just making sure this time.'

Police were called after Mr Alcock miraculously regained consciousness and found his attackers asleep on his sofa.

He flagged down a passing couple outside his property, who raised the alarm.

When arrested Squires told an officer: 'I stabbed him, I did it, I admit it'. Stafford - who had the victim's World War One commemorative watch in her possession- claimed: 'He was an old pervert who tried to snog me.'

Squires (pictured) battered Mr Alcock over the head with an ornamental figurine adding: 'I'm just making sure this time'

Today, at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester, Squires and Stafford, both of Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, sobbed in the dock as they were jailed for 13-and-a-half years after admitting attempted murder and burglary.

Jailing then, Judge Maurice Greene told the two women it was a 'vicious and sustained attack'.

'You were both fuelled by drink and drugs and it is quite clear that you were not in control of your actions on this particular night,' he said.

'He was literally black and blue and bruised all over and you destroyed many of his belongings. He was an independent man but is now dependant on family to take him out.'

Following the sentences, Mr Alcock said in a statement that he had since moved out of his flat and has to live in a residential home because he was too frightened to return.

He was left severely injured and can now only walk with the help of crutches.

'As a result of the attack I spent one week in hospital and I thought I was going to die,' he said. 'I never came home because I didn't want to go back to that place.

'I spent two months in a residential home and the staff were very nice but I still felt nervous. I had swelling and bruising on my head.

'I used to go out seven days a week, I would go out on my scooter and I was independent. I recently tried to leave my flat but I got two steps and began shaking.

'I wake up at 3am or 4am in cold sweats and I can still see the bag on my head. I am a very private person and I don't want any of the belongings in the flat and it all feels dirty.'

The depraved pair (Squires, left, Stafford, right) left the 78-year-old fighting for life as they tortured him for information about where he kept his valuables

The court heard how the shocking attack took place in October last year when Stafford and Squires broke into his ground floor flat through a kitchen window.

The old man was woken up by the noise and found the pair drinking alcohol he kept in a cupboard.

Mr Alcock then demanded the pair leave and swung one of his crutches at them.

But the two women disarmed him, forced him the ground and began kicking him in the head neck and face.

The pair then demanded money from their victim and started kicking him harder when he told them that he had none.

quires then stabbed him in the neck with a knife from his kitchen narrowly missing an artery, while Stafford egged her on saying 'Well do it then, do it'.

Prosecutor Miss Charlotte Crangle told the court: 'His wallet was taken from his pocket which had £145 in cash in it.

'Both defendants were ransacking the living room and Stafford continued demanding money and cards from Mr Alcock.

'Squires continued to ransack the property while Stafford demanded money from Mr Alcock, and when he said that he had none she said she was going to 'do him in' until he was dead.

'She then got a black bin bag from the kitchen and put it over his head, and began pinching his nose pulling the bag over his head. He was struggling to breathe and she pulled the bag tighter and tighter and he became frightened for his life.'

She told the court that Mr Alcock 'pleaded' with them to call an ambulance.

'He discovered that the phone lines had been ripped out so that he couldn't call for help,' Miss Crangle said.

'The black bag was then removed from his head and Stafford returned with a green bag saying she would "make a good job this time".

'The green bag was again removed from his head, and he could see Squires standing near the doorway where he kept figurines.

'Squires grabbed one of the figurines and hit Mr Alcock over the head with it, saying she was "making sure this time" and he passed out from this injury.'

In mitigation Squires's counsel Steven Nikolich claimed his client had been sexually assaulted as a child and added: 'This was not a planned assault. it was spontaneous.

'When she doesn't drink she is a very affable young woman. Before this offence she was working at a charity foundation.'

Defending Stafford, Paul McDonald said: 'She is shocked and disgusted by what she was capable of doing when she was affected by drink and drugs. She will spend years of her life repenting the madness that she did that night.'

After the case, Det Ch Insp Richard Ennis, from Greater Manchester Police said: 'How anyone could carry out such a horrific attack on a defenceless elderly man is incomprehensible - it's utterly sickening.

'They brutally tortured him despite him screaming and pleading for them to stop. They had every intention of killing him and even took enjoyment out of telling him they would so. He truly believed he would die there lying on the floor. What Squires and Stafford did was abhorrent.'