A JUDGE adjourned the sentence of two men who admitted armed robbery at a Worcestershire Matalan store after hearing a defendant has serious health issues.
Dean Buckley and Stephen Soley appeared over prison videolink to Worcester Crown Court before Judge Martin Butterworth.
Sitting side by side in the videolink booth Buckley, 45, of no fixed abode and Soley, 37, of Stourbridge Road, Kidderminster spoke only to confirm their names.
At the court in May Buckley and Soley admitted the robbery, in which they used an imitation firearm.
The robbery took place at Matalan on Park Butts Ringway, Kidderminster, on April 9 this year.
The pair also admit possession of an imitation firearm - a .177 ball bearing gun - at the time of committing that offence; having an offensive weapon (a pickaxe) in a public place (Park Lane); theft of a pickaxe and a sledgehammer on April 10 this year.
As the sentencing got underway Buckley's barrister, Adam Western, told the judge he was making an application to adjourn the hearing for a medical report.
He said since the last hearing his client had spent 18 days at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch and had been diagnosed with a serious medical condition.
"He says he has been told his condition effectively caused his lungs to collapse," Mr Western said.
"He has been told there is a hole in his heart.
"The condition is so serious it can reduce life expectance.
"If he is right about all that, that may have a bearing on how much time he will serve in prison for this offence."
Mr Western asked for a six-week adjournment.
Court hears Buckley and Soley committed armed robbery in 'joint enterprise'
The judge said he would grant the adjournment but warned Buckley the medical condition may make "little difference" to the sentence he would receive.
Andrew Davidson, representing Soley, said his client could not be sentenced separately as the pair carried out the robbery as a joint enterprise.
The sentencing was adjourned until September 22 at Worcester Crown Court.
Stefan Kolodynski appeared for the prosecution during the short hearing on Friday, (August 12).
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