A Carlisle burglar who left a woman unable to sleep after he crept into her home at 4.30am has been sent to prison.
CCTV footage with audio, played at the city’s magistrates’ court, captured the victim asking “who the hell are you?” as 31-year-old Lee Gill entered the Barrock Street property after opening a door on July 5.
Gill — who had been released from prison on licence only three weeks earlier — left the premises after a confrontation but was caught on camera shortly afterwards as he loitered outside. Gill, wearing gloves and a hat, was generally “overdressed” for the time of year, the court heard.
Gill, of Baird Road, Carlisle, denied a charge of burglary with intent to steal but was convicted after a trial earlier this week.
He was sentenced today, when the impact of Gill’s crime on the victim was laid bare. “I don’t understand how and why he has broken into my home. I’m absolutely gutted. I don’t feel safe in my own home,” she had said.
“She got the fright of her life. It would have been a terrifying incident for her,” Diane Jackson told the court. “If she hadn’t been in the kitchen at 4-30am, due to not being able to sleep, he would have carried on to burgled the house, we would submit.”
A defence solicitor said Gill had since expressed remorse for the crime.
District judge Philip Holden imposed an immediate 12-month prison sentence, and said of the householder: “She is entitled to feel safe in her own home.”
