Hooded burglar was carrying knife as he threatened woman in her own home

A hooded burglar carrying a knife who terrified a woman in her home was jailed for nearly five years today.

She was watching TV when she heard the front door open and a man in a black balaclava holding a knife by his side walked in on her saying “Give me your money”.

The raider bent down and grabbed her handbag containing £358 before running out into the street in North Ormesby as she pursued him.

She shouted to a passer-by outside her door in Dorothy Street, North Ormesby, asking where he had gone and the man pointed to Derwent Street.

Although he was disguised, the victim believed that he was drug addict Jason Defty, who had been to her house in the past to accept payment from a male acquaintance.

Prosecutor Paul Cleasby told Teesside Crown Court that CCTV checks on the area showed Defty with and without the balaclava at the time of the raid on August 27 last year.

Police found the 22-year-old hiding in a shed and during interview he put forward an alibi which was later withdrawn.

Mr Cleasby said that the woman victim suffered a trauma because she often had children in the house at that time, and she was fearful of having them around in the future.

He added: “Clearly she was deliberately targeted because he knew that she often had cash on her.”

Defty had served a four-year jail sentence for aggravated burglary armed with an iron bar.

He also had a conviction for racially aggravated assault on an Asian shopkeeper when he was armed with a broken bottle.

Paul Newcombe,defending, said that Defty was making efforts to rehabilitate himself by tackling his drug abuse and attending an anger-management course.

He added: “He knows that he is going to jail.

“He has hopes when released to move out of the area with his partner.”

The judge told Defty that he was fortunate not to be charged with aggravated burglary.

Judge Howard Crowson said: “Witgh a knife there is always a risk of harm.

“All these matters are aggravated by the fact that this is your third house burglary.”

Defty, of Jubilee Street, North Ormesby, was jailed for four years and nine months after he pleaded guilty to burglary and possession of an offensive weapon, a knife.