A drug-addled thug terrorized an 89-year-old man at a bus stop, threatening to strip-search him before striking him in the head and leaving him in tears, a court heard. Brian Orpen, 40, targeted the pensioner near the Hardwick Pub on High Newham Road in Stockton on the afternoon of January 25. High on drugs, Orpen falsely accused the elderly man of stealing his phone, hit him hard enough to shatter his hearing aid, and attempted to snatch his bag during an attempted robbery.
Teesside Crown Court learned the pensioner was waiting to visit his wife of 60 years in a care home when Orpen approached, visibly intoxicated. Prosecutor Matthew Hopkins said, “The defendant shouted nonsense like ‘you have my phone’ and threatened to strip-search him if he didn’t show what was in his bag. When the man pulled it away, Orpen hit him with enough force to break his hearing aid.” The pensioner swung his bag in self-defense and crossed the road to escape, but Orpen pursued him, trying to grab his arm.
A passing motorist intervened, stopping to help. Orpen continued his baseless accusations and threatened the driver, saying, “I’m waiting for my uncle, and when he gets here, you’re getting it.” The driver sheltered the shaken pensioner in his car, where the driver’s wife noticed the elderly man crying and in pain. Orpen approached the vehicle, menacingly telling the victim through the window, “You’re going to get it,” before turning to the driver with threats that his family would “tie him up and take him away.” He then fled.
The pensioner, trembling and tearful, feared police might detain him over Orpen’s false claims, preventing his care home visit. “He’d never been in a situation like this and worried the defendant might hurt others,” Hopkins added. Police later found Orpen nearby, where he claimed he’d only asked for the time and to borrow a phone. After his arrest, he admitted taking zopiclone and having no memory of the incident. The 40-year-old pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and threatening behavior.
The court also heard that Orpen, already on bail, had burgled Heron Foods in Stockton’s Wellington Square Shopping Centre with an accomplice on November 6, 2024. At 1:50 a.m., they smashed a glass door with an empty beer barrel, stealing £100 worth of chocolate, coffee, and alcohol, and breaking a wine bottle on the floor. Police caught them 10 minutes later on Stockton High Street, where one remarked, “I’m banged to rights, innit.” Orpen, with 40 convictions for 67 offenses, admitted the burglary.
Defending, Shaun Dryden said Orpen’s “entrenched” drug and alcohol addiction drove his crimes. “He woke up in custody unaware of what he’d done, and he’s ashamed and remorseful,” Dryden told the court. The Ketton Road resident was sentenced to four years in prison.
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