YOUNG couple Rebecca Buckley and Michael Wyatt posed for a seaside snap on Blackpool Promenade just days after they had carried out a burglary which led to the death of a frail pensioner.

Along with Buckley's brother, Jonathon, they targeted the Little Hulton home of 66-year-old cancer sufferer Samuel Marshall and stole £700 he had saved for his funeral.

They cut the phone line to his home and also stole his mobile phone so he could not call for help, then took a taxi to Blackpool and spent Mr Marshall's money on champagne and sports clothes.

Yesterday, Wyatt, aged 27, and Jonathon Buckley, aged 19, were locked up for seven years after pleading guilty to manslaughter and burglary at Manchester Crown Court.

Rebecca Buckley, aged 17, was given a 12-month detention order after admitting a charge of burglary.

Wyatt and Jonathon Buckley did not attack Mr Marshall, but they accepted the shock of the burglary caused him to subsequently collapse and die.

The three defendants had moved from Little Hulton to Blackpool a short time before the burglary.

The court heard they left Blackpool on July 19 last year with the intention of carrying out a robbery.

They ended up in Little Hulton and made their way to the home of Mr Marshall, who suffered from a heart condition, diabetes and prostate cancer.

Jonathon and Rebecca Buckley knew Mr Marshall through his granddaughter, Simone.

Rebecca was friends with her and Jonathon had been her boyfriend until shortly before the burglary took place.

Just a week before he died, Mr Marshall took Simone and Jonathon Buckley on a day trip to Blackpool, paying for everything himself.

On July 19, Mr Marshall was in his house with Simone and one of her friends. Rebecca Buckley knocked on the door and spoke to Mr Marshall, before kissing him on the cheek and leaving with the two girls. She split up from them a short time later and returned with her brother and Wyatt.

They burst into the house and ransacked it as terrified Mr Marshall watched helplessly.

The burglars cut Mr Marshall's telephone line, meaning that with his mobile phone stolen, the pensioner had no way of calling for help.

Jonathon Buckley and Wyatt were seen sprinting away from the house. When the police arrived at the house to take a statement, Mr Marshall suffered his first heart attack.

He was resuscitated by paramedics, but then had another one and was resuscitated once more. He was taken to hospital where a third heart attack killed him.

The burglars were unaware Mr Marshall was fighting for his life as they celebrated with the cash they had stolen.

They took a taxi back to Blackpool and spent £500 of the money they had stolen on sportswear, drank champagne and bought drugs.

Passing sentence, the Recorder of Manchester, Judge David Maddison, said: "It was an unusually cold and callous offence.

"Both you, Jonathon Buckley, and you, Rebecca Buckley, knew Mr Marshall. You knew him to be in particular poor health and you knew that he kept a significant amount of cash in his house.

"He was, as you knew, not in a position to put up any resistance at all."

Mr Marshall's daughter, Julie Hyland, aged 39, said: "Our dad died in a very undignified way, and in tragic and unnecessary circumstances. The events leading up to his death, when he should have felt safe and secure, have caused us all a great deal of distress.

"Our family has been destroyed, not only the children, but also his grandchildren and great -grandchildren.

"Our dad was the core of the family, he was a proud and stubborn man, the head of the family.

"It's very difficult coming to terms with the fact that we will never see him again. We are emotionally devastated beyond belief. Our lives will never be the same."

The family said they were "very pleased" with the sentences, especially Rebecca Buckley's.

They expressed their disgust that she gave Mr Marshall a hug and a kiss just before the burglary.

Michael Wyatt, a father-of-two, had been battling a heroin addiction for several years, the court was told.

Jonathan Buckley's barrister, Neil Usher, said his client admitted he was party to a burglary where some physical force was applied, but he said he did not apply the force.

He said: "The money was frittered away on alcohol, cannabis and, in Jonathan Buckley's case, fairground rides."

Jonathaon Buckley was sentenced to seven years in a young offenders' institution for manslaughter and five years for burglary, to run concurrently.

Wyatt was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for manslaughter and five years for burglary, also to run concurrently.

Rebecca Buckley received a 12-month detention and training order.