Three men have been sentenced to prison after breaking into a man’s home in Bristol, England, assaulting him, and trying to force him to hand over cryptocurrency, Avon and Somerset Police said Friday.
Police said Terroll Paul, 31, Mohamed Samagassi, 37, and Pierre Madzou, 30, forced their way into the victim’s home in the early hours of May 15. They assaulted him and demanded a large amount of digital currency. The victim was struck over the head and suffered a substantial injury that required hospital treatment.
The victim’s teenage sister alerted police, and officers arrested all three men at the scene.
Sentences handed down at Bristol Crown Court
The three men pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary in August and were sentenced on Thursday at Bristol Crown Court. Paul, of Barking in London, was sentenced to six years in prison. Madzou, also of Barking, received five and a half years. Samagassi, who was listed as having no fixed address, was sentenced to five years.
PC Gemma Childs, the investigating officer, said the victim’s sister showed “extreme bravery.” Her actions, Childs said, led directly to “the apprehension of the offenders and preventing her brother from further harm.”
In a statement read in court, the victim said the break-in had changed him. “Before, I was bubbly, talkative and outgoing but now I would describe myself as tense and apprehensive,” he said.
Police did not disclose the amount demanded
Police did not say how much cryptocurrency the men had demanded.
Latest case in a run of UK “wrench attacks”
Decrypt described the case as the latest in a series of so-called “wrench attacks” in the UK, where criminals target crypto holders in person.
In February, three teenagers were jailed over a $4.3 million wrench attack robbery in London that was captured on police video. Last month, a $10,000 reward was offered after a couple in the West Midlands was attacked in a crypto-related home invasion.
According to blockchain security firm CertiK, wrench attacks caused $124 million in losses globally in the first six months of 2026, a twelvefold increase from a year earlier.
