Violent man’s life sentence

11:43am Wednesday 16th July 2003

A man described by police as “truly evil” has been sentenced to life imprisonment for a string of violent robberies.

Hamed Abiodun Gbadayanka was sentenced to life imprisonment at Croydon Crown Court on Friday last week.

The 28-year-old’s vicious robbing spree included an attack on a 73-year-old woman at her home in Upper Norwood in October 2002.

The woman, who suffers from heart problems, had returned home after picking up her pension when Gbadayanka attacked her on her doorstep. After stealing £98 from the victim he repeatedly hit her head against a chair before escaping.

Detective Inspector Keith Surtees, who headed the investigation which brought Gbadayanka to justice, said: “He was a truly evil man, who inflicted extreme violence on his victims even after he’d got what he wanted.” One victim, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Guardian: “I was the youngest one he attacked but I have a bad knee so he must have thought I was an easy target. If my husband had not been at home, he could have killed me.

Gbadayanka, of no fixed address, was charged with 11 counts of robbery on elderly women, to six of which he pleaded guilty.