TWO men who carried out a violent burglary at a South Cumbria house have both been sent to prison.
Michael Harrison, 32, and 28-year-old Kieren Scott forced their way into the rear of the property, at Glebe Road in Kendal late at night in early November, by breaking glass in a door.
A male occupant who heard the disturbance phoned police and was advised to barricade himself in a bathroom.
Harrison stormed upstairs, broke the bathroom door off its hinges and as damage was done inside a radiator was pulled from a wall.
Carlisle Crown Court heard the cowering man was on the phone to police at the time. “He was frightened for his life,” said prosecutor Charles Brown, who stated that the male had added: “They are trying to kill me.”
Meanwhile, Scott remained downstairs with the man’s girlfriend, pinning her to a sofa and telling her: “I won’t hurt you. Just stay down.”
Although the resident of the address was not present, her son arrived and walked Harrison out of the property with Scott. Around £300 cash was later discovered to be missing from a bedroom at the house.
Harrison, of Kirkland, Kendal, and Scott, of High Garth, Kendal, later admitted burglary. Harrison had also pleaded guilty to vehicle interference at a garage in his home town, a spot of blood found inside one car tying him to that crime – and accepted breaching a previously imposed suspended prison sentence.
Harrison was said to have gone to the Glebe Road property “simply with the intention of purchasing drugs”, while his partner-in-crime committed the burglary during a month out of regular work having involved himself in class A substances.
Judge Nicholas Barker jailed Harrison for 42 months, and Scott for 28 months.