A masked thug who stretched a dog until he yelped during a violent £20,000 robbery has been jailed.

Callous Joseph Crabbe grabbed the animal and hurt it in an attempt to find the safe of his victim and former friend he was stealing from.

The 37-year-old, of Longhill Avenue, Chatham, committed the offence to settle a drug debt, and was handed an extended 13-and-a-half year sentence.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that during the attack Andrew Gibson could hear his pet yelp in anguish before he gave up details on where his safe was. He had his hands and legs tied together.

Mr Gibson later discovered one of the two raiders at his home in Cliffe, Rochester, was known to him as Joe Daley.

Prosecutor Oliver Kirk explained that Daley was in reality Joseph Crabbe, a former friend, who had targeted the victim in revenge and to settle a drug debt.

He said that Crabbe and another pal carried out the attack in July 2021 after arming themselves with a hammer and a screwdriver.

The robbers demanded to know where the safe was and used Mr Gibson's own snooker cue to hit him around the head.

Mr Gibson said while Crabbe was attacking the pet dog, the thugs stabbed him with a screwdriver before holding a Stanley knife to his throat.

Prosecutor Kirk added that after tying up the victim with a flex cable they escaped with £20,000 worth of items.

The ordeal left a profound effect on the victim, who later attempted suicide, the court heard.

Judge Philip Statman told Crabbe he had plotted his revenge for personal reasons and to settle a drug debt.

He added that in the year since the case first came to court Crabbe had shown "green shoots" of remorse.

The judge - who also issued an open-ended restraining order - gave him a 10-and-a-half year jail sentence, of which he will serve two-thirds before he is eligible for parole.

And when he is released he will have to serve an extra three years on licence after the judge ruled he posed a danger to the public.

The painter and decorator was released from an earlier sentence in March 2016 and went on the run for five years.