Thug broke into his former home in terrifying attack

Robert Thorpe left the young couple quaking with fear after they caught him climbing through the window of their house. They pushed him out and he threw a brick smashing a window.

Later Thorpe, 25, broke into a library and stole two books - one called Mind over Matter and the other about female health.

Jailing him for two and a half years Judge Stephen Everett said that the mere charges he admitted, two burglaries and possessing a metal bar as an offensive weapon, “do not really do justice to the horror of what you did.”

He told the 25-year-old that his behaviour must have been terrifying for the young householders and his “selfish, arrogant and aggressive behaviour” had left the female occupant now feeling afraid in her own home.

“You picked up a brick and threw it not giving two hoots whether it hit one of them. It could have caused serious or even fatal injuries,” he said.

Judge Everett said that even though Thorpe has no previous convictions and has mental health issues “the public would be outraged if I did not send you to prison.”

Richard Orme, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that a young couple were asleep in their terraced home in York Street, Atherton, on October 12 last year when they were awoken by breaking glass at 6am.

David Emmerson went downstairs and caught Thorpe trying to climb in through the kitchen window and pushed him out.

When he went outside Thorpe picked up a brick and a metal bar and threatened him with it and hurled the brick at him, missing but breaking a window.

Thorpe, of of Spa Road, Atherton, then broke a window to get into nearby Atherton Library and stole two books but was arrested nearby. He expressed particular concern about the ‘Mind over Matter’ book, said Mr Orme.

The court heard that Thorpe had been abusing alcohol and drugs including cocaine and cannabis for years and the judge described his lifestyle as “hedonistic.”

Martyn Walsh, defending, said that Thorpe has now stopped taking drugs and cut down on alcohol. He has Crohn’s Disease as well as mental health problems including an “unstable personality disorder.”

He said the house used to be Thorpe’s family home and he used the library as a child. He described the offences as “out of the ordinary” and Thorpe had little recollection of them.

The judge imposed an indefinite restraining order on Thorpe to keep away from York Street and Back Bolton Street.