A PORT Talbot man who was jailed indefinitely following a brutal robbery at the home of a frail and elderly neighbour who died a few weeks later - tried to apologise to the victim's family as he was being sent down.

Carl Brynmor Davies – a convicted rapist – got into the Sunny Road, Sandfields, home of 78-year-old Edward Jones at 2am and found him asleep in bed.

He put a pillow over the terrified pensioner's head and punched him in the chest, demanding to know where money was kept.

Davies, whose face was concealed with a balaclava mask, then threatened to kill Mr Jones and dragged him downstairs to the living room.

There, he subjected the pensioner to further violence before searching the room and fleeing with cash he found.

Mr Jones died in hospital from a blood clot three weeks after the robbery, but it was not alleged by the prosecution that his death was caused by the defendant.

Davies, aged 42, was sent down yesterday (Friday December 4) at Swansea Crown Court after a judge described him as a dangerous offender and imposed an indefinite sentence of imprisonment for public protection.

As he was led from the dock, Davies shouted to relatives and friends of Mr Jones in the public gallery: "I'm very, very sorry."

"Too late, Carl," replied one of them.

In the early 1990s Davies was convicted of a number of serious assaults, the court heard.

Then, in 1995, he was given a nine-year prison sentence in 1995 after pleading guilty to raping a 17-year-old girl near a railway line.

He was released from that sentence in 2002 and later went to live in Germany with his wife and child.

The robbery of Mr Jones happened last June when Davies was staying with his parents at their home almost directly opposite the pensioner's.

Davies was convicted by a jury after pleading not guilty when he stood trial last month.

Mark Spackman, prosecuting, said Mr Jones was a frail man with a speech impediment who was a virtual recluse.

But it was common knowledge that the pensioner frequently left his house unlocked and there were rumours that he kept a significant amount of cash there.

Davies committed the robbery in the early hours of June 15 after returning to Sunny Road from a drinking session.

The alarm was raised after neighbours noticed lights on, realised an intruder was in Mr Jones's home and then saw Davies walking away.

Police found Mr Jones cowering and frightened on his hands and knees, covering his face with his hands.

Robin Rouch, in mitigation, said yesterday that although Davies had pleaded not guilty, there was now a "partial acceptance" by the defendant that he had committed the offence.

The barrister said Davies now admitted putting a pillow on Mr Jones's head and "frog-marching" him downstairs but still denied striking him.

Mr Rouch added: "He fully accepts he deserves whatever sentence he receives."

Judge Peter Heywood told Davies: "What you did was despicable and I have no doubt you targeted him because you knew of his vulnerability and regarded him as a soft and easy target.

"The vulnerable and elderly need to be protected – and offences like this make other elderly people in a neighbourhood fear for their own safety."

The judge said Davies was a dangerous offender and a sentence of imprisonment for public protection was the only appropriate way of dealing with a case of such seriousness.

Davies, he said, would have to spend five years behind bars before becoming eligible to apply for release on licence.

But he would not necessarily regain his liberty at that stage. He would only be released when the Parole Board was satisfied he was no longer a danger.