Shropshire Star

Drunk thief broke into pensioners' home then reversed into tree

A serial criminal has been jailed after breaking into an elderly couple’s home at night before reversing their car into a tree.

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Christopher Perkins has been jailed for five months

Christopher Perkins, 27, entered the home of a 76-year-old man and his wife, waking them as they slept.

After the break-in, he tried to drive in the pensioners’ car but after two bottles of spirits he was so drunk he was only able to reverse it into a tree.

By targeting the house Perkins, of Hanover Court, Madeley, breached two suspended sentences for previous offences, a court heard.

Perkins admitted the offences and was jailed for five months.

Judge Anthony Lowe told Perkins that suspended sentences had to be acted on, and if they weren’t then they would have no credibility.

Robert Edwards, prosecuting, told Shrewsbury Crown Court that on November 25 the householder was woken by banging at the front of his house and saw Perkins in his garden.

He went down and saw Perkins in the car which moved down the drive and hit a tree.

Police were called and Perkins told them he'd had two bottles of spirits and he remembered very little about being in the property.

Officers found bottles of alcohol in the footwell of the car as well as carpet underlay.

Perkins admitted that he had been looking for a place to sleep at the back of the house, and he got into the car to find somewhere to sleep and was going to use the underlay to cover himself.

Mr Edwards said the Crown would urge the sentenced to be activated and said Perkins had an “awful record of compliance”.

Kevin Jones, defending, admitted his client’s offending did not make for good reading, however at the time of most of his offences he was living a chaotic lifestyle.

He was given a total of five months in jail for two breaches of suspended sentences, and a theft and criminal damage offence.

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