James Harris
At around 4pm on 23 April 2017, the victims - a man and a woman - returned to the man's home in London Road in Dover to find the front door open.
As they walked in, they were confronted by Harris who was holding an axe and a knife. He swung the axe and caught the man in the side with the butt of it. The man suffered bruised ribs as a result.
Harris had caused mess to the property, upturning furniture, squirting washing-up liquid around the kitchen and pulling all of the clothes out of the wardrobe.
He had also stolen two knives from the victim and told the couple not to move or he would stab them. He told them he needed money to pay off a large debt and demanded that they ring family and friends to get money to give to him.
During the incident which lasted around 45 minutes, Harris repeatedly threatened to hurt the two victims if they tried to run or raise the alarm, and then stole the woman's phone to use for calls to buy drugs. After several unsuccessful attempts, he ran out of the flat.
Harris stole several items from the two victims, including two mobile phones, a passport, a bank card, a computer tablet, a games console, cash and knives.
Harris was arrested on 28 April in Whitfield and officers found he was carrying four knives as well as some of the stolen items.
At court he admitted two charges of robbery and possessing a bladed article in a public place.
Investigating officer Detective Constable Natasha Russell said: "Harris subjected his victims to a terrifying ordeal, and his threats meant the victims were too scared to report the incident until the following day.
"I commend them for their courage in supporting the case and I hope they are able to recover from this incident.
"Harris thought he could get what he wanted with threats and knives - but crime never pays, and Harris is now facing a considerable amount of time in prison."
