Woman, 29, who claimed she was Boris Johnson’s daughter is jailed

A woman who was convinced she was Boris Johnson‘s daughter has been jailed after she helped terrorise and rob an elderly man.

Lauren Johnson, 29, distracted the 72-year-old victim so Andrew Ratcliffe, 33, was able to break into his house, punch him around 30 times and threaten to stab him.

At the time, the woman, who suffers from a psychotic disorder, thought that ‘Boris Johnson was her father and the Government was going to hurt her family if she did not do what she was told.’

York Crown Court heard how on September 12 last year, the elderly victim, who already knew Johnson, was reading in bed when she knocked on his window and asked him for money.

When he said he only had £40, she ‘asked for it repeatedly’ but he refused to hand it over.

Johnson took out a strip of tablets and asked him for some water so she could swallow them and when he went into the kitchen, Ratcliffe started assaulting him.

Prosecutor Vincent Blake-Barnard said: ‘He brought a bottle of water (but) she told him ‘no, get a glass of water.’

‘He went to the kitchen to get the water but as he did so, Ratcliffe jumped through the bedroom window and started assaulting him.’

Ratcliffe, a drug addict, punched the victim in the face ‘about 30 times’ during a vicious, sustained attack, causing bruising to his eye, cheek and temple.

He told the terrified pensioner he had a knife in his pocket and was going to stab him if he didn’t give him the £40.

Mr Blake-Barnard said: ‘(The victim) said his wallet was in his jeans.

‘(Ratcliffe) emptied the wallet and took about £23.

‘He then marched (the victim) through the property by his neck and left.’

Johnson, of Scarborough, North Yorkshire, remained outside during the savage attack, closing the bedroom window so that nobody could hear what was going on.

CCTV footage later that night showed them using the stolen cash to buy sweets and drinks from a local service station.

They were both arrested and charged with robbery but Ratcliffe, of Bradford, West Yorkshire, was also charged with two burglaries which occurred on the same day.

He was jailed for eight and a half years in January but Johnson initially denied robbery after being arrested two weeks after the incident.

She later admitted the offence on the basis that she was just a look-out, had not been inside the victim’s property and did not take part in the violence.

Johnson also admitted breaching several suspended prison sentences and the court heard she had 56 previous convictions for 112 offences including burglary.

The robbery also occurred less than two months after she received a 16-week suspended prison sentence for previous offences including theft.

Defence barrister Zarreen Alan-Cheetham said a psychiatric report showed Johnson suffered from a psychotic disorder and an unstable-personality disorder.

She said that Johnson had a long-standing heroin-and-cocaine addiction and had previously been sectioned in 2021 and 2022.

Ms Alan-Cheetham said that at the time of the robbery, Johnson was convinced she was Boris Johnson’s daughter.

But since being remanded in custody, she had kicked her drug habit after receiving help from a substance-abuse charity.

Judge Sean Morris said the elderly victim had been ‘terrorised’ but that it was Ratcliffe who was the ‘leading light’ in the robbery.

But he told Johnson: ‘You took part in a robbery of an elderly gentleman in his own home.

‘You know that man: you have pestered him before, and you are back pestering him again.

‘You were with somebody who was not a regular friend of yours and I accept you didn’t fully anticipate that that (attack) would happen, but you dance with the devil and that’s what happens.’

He added: ‘Mental-health problems are not a ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ card.’

Johnson was jailed for 21 months but will serve half of the total two-year jail sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.

Detective Constable Sam Rivers said after Johnson’s sentence: ‘This has clearly been a planned and orchestrated robbery of a 72-year-old victim in his own home.

‘It was a very frightening experience for the poor man who has received injuries as a result of the attack.

‘He also believed the male offender had a knife with him and that he would have been killed should he not comply with the demands for money the offender was making.

‘Johnson who waited outside clearly knew exactly what was happening and is guilty by joint enterprise.

‘Together they planned this offence and carried it out with no remorse.

‘Offenders who commit this sort of crime are a scourge on society.

‘It was a shameful and vicious attack and I’m glad our investigation brought the perpetrators to justice.’