Dragged out of bed by burglars

The frightening incident happened at Dunclug Gardens in Ballymena, the town’s Magistrate’s Court was told.

One of the intruders was previously dealt with and now the other burglar - Adam Wilson (21), of Rathmore Heights in Ballymena - has been given a five months jail term.

A prosecutor said police received a ‘999’ call at 4.40am from a woman who said she was awakened from sleep by two males pulling her from her bed after they had removed her bed clothes.

They started looking through her cupboards and stole £50, keys and perfume.

At one stage the other male used the name ‘Adam’.

The duo escaped through a living room window and were arrested nearby and stolen items were recovered. Wilson told police he “couldn’t remember a thing” about the incident which happened in August, 2017.

The defendant appeared at court via video link from prison in relation to a deferred sentence on charges of burglary, receiving stolen goods and assaulting and resisting a police officer. The defendant was also involved in another incident, when police had cause to speak to Wilson at Rathmore Heights and he told officers he was “not going anywhere”.

Officers had to carry him out of a house and he was swinging his arms about saying he would “wreck the place”.

A defence solicitor said Wilson came from a very good family and his mother and sister were in court. Unfortunately, said the lawyer, alcohol and drugs “took a grip” of the defendant.

The solicitor said the burglary was “very amateurish” but “very nasty and frightening” for the complainant.

He said she was known to Wilson and it was not a “stranger” case. Jailing Wilson, District Judge Nigel Broderick said: “This was a nasty incident. For anyone to wake up in their bedroom and be confronted by two individuals, even if one may have been known to them, would have been a frightening experience”.