A teenage robber who viciously attacked pensioners in their own homes in a series of sickening attacks has been jailed.

Aaron Davis, 18, meted out appalling violence on three elderly victims - including 89-year-old Jean McDougall, who was beaten so hard her false teeth came out.

The cowardly thug savagely beat her and her 84-year-old husband in a shocking crowbar raid at their Hextable home.

Davis, of College Road, Hextable, was given an extended sentence of 15 years and six months - consisting of a custodial term of 10-and-a-half years and a licence period of five years.

He targeted their home in Panter's at 9am on October 15 last year.

He had been carrying a black holdall when he knocked at the door and asked Mrs McDougall for the time.

Around 15 minutes later, she went to the bathroom and noticed the black holdall on the floor - but then remembered nothing until she woke up in an ambulance.

Mrs McDougall was left with a broken nose and eye socket, a fracture to the base of her spine and other injuries consistent with being repeatedly kicked. She was beaten so hard that her false teeth came out and her glasses were broken.

The victim asked police to release images of her injuries to show the full severity of the attack.

Detectives investigating the case linked it to a previous offence in the same street the previous month.

An 81-year-old woman awoke from being unconscious on September 10 before calling her friend to say she had fallen over and hurt herself.

Ten days later in hospital, the victim remembered Davis had entered her home and assaulted her.

Police also linked a theft from this victim's shed after golf clubs were stolen and the shed set on fire.

Davis was identified after matching a description given by the victim and his DNA was found on the bag he had left at the crime scene.

He was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court after pleading guilty to three counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, two counts of robbery, the burglary of the first victim's shed and another burglary at the football pavilion in Hextable Park.

DC Shelley Rainer, from Kent Police, said: "This case involved an extremely violent assault on three innocent pensioners, for very little financial gain.

"It is a case that has caused immeasurable damage to the victims, their families and the community they live in."

She added: "The victims' courage in supporting the police has led to the successful conviction and prevented other offences in the future.

"Despite the age of the defendant the judge has imposed a significant sentence that I think reflects the serious nature of the offences and also the threat that he poses to society."