A COUPLE had to use all their force to hold their front door shut as a would-be burglar tried to kick it down in an early-morning raid.
Vanessa Stacey and husband Darren trapped Ian Edgeworth's arm in the door as he kicked, swore and repeatedly shouted at them to hand over the keys to their car.
Mrs Stacey told the Post: "We were holding the door together but he was insistent on getting in, which the coppers couldn't believe. They thought he would run off as soon as he saw us."
A judge described their ordeal as one of the worst attempted burglaries he had ever heard about.
Mrs Stacey said she had to dive at the bottom of the door when she realised someone was trying to kick it open.
Mr Stacey then held the top of the door with Edgeworth's arm trapped inside.
The couple's three-year-old son watched terrified from the top of the stairs while Mrs Stacey's teenage daughter, Sheridan Henderson, phoned police.
Mr Stacey said: "He just had a lot of gall trying to break in and he carried on kicking it while we were holding the door shut. He looked very angry. He was asking for the car keys."
As Mr and Mrs Stacey, who were dressed only in underwear, held Edgeworth trapped by his arm, Sheridan gave police a description of him over the phone.
Sheridan, then aged 18, said: "I woke up after hearing loads of screams.
"I went into the lounge and brought back the curtain blind and I saw him as clear as day. I was quite shaken really.
"My brother was upstairs and I wanted to be with him. I could hear him crying and shouting. He was a bit hysterical. I wanted to protect my brother but I had to stand in the front window."
Mr and Mrs Stacey then let Edgeworth escape because their son was so upset.
Mrs Stacey has been left with an injury to her shoulder due to the break-in, which still causes her pain.
The door and door frame of the home in Arnold eventually gave way and have had to be replaced following the attempted break-in, which happened on Boxing Day 2009.
Edgeworth, 24, of Home Close, Arnold, was caught through his DNA because he left blood on the door.
He received a sentence of two years and eight months after pleading guilty to attempted burglary.
Mr Stacey said: "I always said if anyone tried to get in they would have a hard time.
"I was livid. I wasn't frightened by it, I was more angry that the cheeky sod had got us up at half seven in the morning and kicked at our door on Boxing Day. It pretty much ruined our Christmas."
He said they had also had a previous attempted burglary on Christmas morning in 2008 and the incidents had now left them fearful.
Mr Stacey said: "This Christmas we were worried in case it happened again. I get nervous now even if I hear a bang."
Sentencing him at Nottingham Crown Court last week, Judge Jonathan Teare said he took into account Edgeworth's guilty plea, which must have been "inevitable" in the end because of the DNA evidence.
"Mrs Stacey and her husband had to fight to keep you out," Judge Teare said.
"Mrs Stacey was screaming in fear. You must have known that but you kept on.
"What was taken was the confidence of that family that they would live securely in their own home.
"If this happened to your partner or neighbour you would want me to send them away.
"This is one of the worst attempted burglaries I've had to sentence."
 |  |
Allen Stanford Guantánamo Bay Green politics Scotland The X Factor Nicolas Anelka
No comments:
Post a Comment