A PROLIFIC burglar who broke into a family’s Whitehaven home and entered the rooms of young sleeping children before being chased away has been jailed for almost four years.
Heavily-convicted Allan Dryden, 34, removed his trainers as he entered the Windsor Court address and went inside while the occupants were in bed just before midnight on December 6.
When the female householder got up after hearing a noise, she was stunned to see Dryden stood in her doorway. It emerged he had entered the bedrooms of children, including one aged just 16 months.
Both the woman and her partner bravely chased Dryden, who fled the property. They swiftly began their own investigation to track the crook and posted on Facebook a CCTV camera still showing him at the house, prompting one user to name him as the culprit.
When police went to his home, they found trainers, a tracksuit top and distinctive bottoms matching those worn on the CCTV footage in a washing machine.
Dryden initially denied being responsible but later admitted burglary with intent to steal. “He has a significant record for offences of a different type,” prosecutor Kim Whittlestone told Carlisle Crown Court, “but a significant history of burglaries – dwelling and also non-dwelling.”
The female householder had struggled to sleep since the break-in, received medication from a doctor and undergone counselling following Dryden’s crime, and now felt “uncomfortable in her own home”.
“She has extremely young children,” added Miss Whittlestone. “They have picked up on her trauma. They are aware of the distress their mother has been caused, and have made reference to that.”
Described as “apologetic”, Dryden, of Lakeland Avenue, Whitehaven, was jailed for 44 months today (FRI).
“She was confronted by what must have been a terrifying sight,” Recorder Alex Leach told Dryden of the female occupant. “The sight of your presence.”