Want Stoke-on-Trent news emailed to you direct from our journalists? Sign up to our newsletter Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A couple subjected a man to a vicious robbery which saw him sprayed with lighter fluid and stabbed several times with a kitchen knife.

Wayne Ferns and Vanessa Malpass tricked their way into the victim’s home before attacking him and stealing his property.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Ferns - who tried to hide his identity by wearing a beanie hat fashioned into a mask - later told police he had gone to the house in Leek to ‘enforce a drugs debt’.

The 40-year-old has now been jailed for seven-and-a-half years, while his accomplice Malpass received a four-and-a-half year sentence.

Prosecutor Richard McConaghy said the victim heard knocking on his back door on the night of the offence. He looked out to see 32-year-old Malpass and, mistaking her for someone else, went down to let her in.

“The woman was asking for help,” said Mr McConaghy. “Having opened the door he realised it was Vanessa Malpass and put his arms out of stop her walking in. At that point Wayne Ferns appeared wearing a maroon beanie fashioned into a balaclava, with eye holes cut into it.

“He had a plastic bottle containing a flammable substance similar to lighter fluid. He sprayed it at the injured party, then started to pour the contents of the bottle onto a rag. He lit it and threw it at the injured party, just missing him. It landed on the carpet.”

The court heard Ferns kicked and punched the victim, demanding money. He took an iPhone and pulled a TV from the wall and headed out of the house. The victim then tackled him to the ground, smashing the TV, and the struggle continued into the garden.

Mr McConaghy said: “Ferns then produced a herb cutter and struck the injured party several times to the forearm with it. Malpass appeared behind Ferns. She had a knife and started stabbing the injured party in the back. The wounds weren’t deep but there were several of them. She then stabbed his bare feet.”

The struggle between the two men continued, with each biting the other. The victim’s housemate then arrived at the Cruso Street property and intervened. He also took a laptop back from Malpass that she had taken from the house.

Police arrived a short time later and arrested Ferns and Malpass. Ferns told officers he had gone to enforce a drugs debt and 'things had got out of hand'. The victim was not seriously injured in the attack.

The court heard Ferns, of no fixed address, had 12 previous convictions for 16 offences, while mother-of-two Malpass, of Hope Street, Hanley, had none. Both pleaded guilty to robbery and wounding.

Nicholas Tatlow, representing Malpass, said: “She formed an abusive relationship with Wayne Ferns. She became utterly infatuated by him. He introduced her to the abuse of monkey dust and heroin.

"By the time she became involved in this, she was at the lowest point of her life so far. She has since committed herself to taking steps to get her life back on track.

“Throughout this incident she clearly played a subordinate role to Ferns, intervening in the violence only to help him when it seemed the injured party was getting the better of him.”

The court was told that father-of-four Ferns, who had taken drugs all his adult life, had recently been able to rebuild his relationship with his family.

Sentencing the pair, Judge Paul Glenn said: “This was an ugly incident, late at night. The injuries in this case fortunately were not the most serious, but the psychological effect has been significant.”

Follow StokeonTrentLive

Download our app - You can download our free app for iPhone and iPad from Apple's App Store , or get the Android version from Google Play .

Follow StokeonTrentLive on Facebook - Like our Facebook page to get the latest news in your feed and join in the lively discussions in the comments. Click here to give it a like!

Follow us on Twitter - For breaking news and the latest stories, click here to follow SOTLive on Twitter .

Follow us on Instagram - Featuring pictures past and present from across Stoke-on-Trent, North Staffordshire & South Cheshire - and if you tag us in your posts, we could repost your picture on our page! We also put the latest news in our Instagram Stories. Click here to follow StokeonTrentLive on Instagram.