A grandmother woke up to find her daughter's ex-boyfriend standing beside her bed and staring at her. Roy O'Neil's victim was initially told the incident 'must just have been a bad dream' after he drunkenly broke into the house where his former partner lived with her mother and four-year-old son.
Ring doorbell camera footage posted to Facebook later proved the incident was part of a spree of five attempted and successful burglaries over around two hours early in the morning. O'Neil stole a handbag, Pandora bracelets and charms worth thousands of pounds and even his ex-partner's child's clothes.
Burglary spree across Moreton streets
Liverpool Crown Court heard on Thursday that O'Neil first attempted to break into three homes on Town Meadow Lane in Moreton, Wirral, at around 3am on May 30 this year. One woman who was still awake found the 27-year-old standing in her front porch but scared him away by banging on the door.
Matthew Dixon, prosecuting, described how O'Neil, of School Close in Moreton, then walked to a neighbouring house where he similarly tried to gain access. The homeowner heard him attempting to enter unsuccessfully. Another occupant on the same street, who had been asleep, later awoke to find Ring doorbell footage of the defendant with his hood up trying the front door.
O'Neil then made his way to nearby Lingham Lane, where he entered the porch of another house before walking away when he could not get further inside. A father who lived there was working away on the Isle of Man and was notified of the attempted break-in by his Ring doorbell, with his wife and child sleeping inside.
Victim told it was 'a bad dream'
Shortly before 5am, O'Neil attended the address of his former partner on Pasture Crescent, where she lived with her four-year-old son and mother. The grandmother woke to find him 'standing over her, staring at her' in her bedroom before a 'noise of fright' she made caused him to flee.
Her daughter initially told the grandma that 'it must just have been a bad dream', although she later saw CCTV footage of O'Neil attempting to break into other houses on community Facebook pages. At that stage she noticed her mother's £200 Radley handbag and its contents, two of her own Pandora bracelets and charms valued at around £2,000, and a number of items of clothing were all missing. This included clothes belonging to her young child.
Three-year jail sentence imposed
O'Neil was arrested on May 31. The stolen handbag and clothing were found in his bedroom, although the Pandora bracelets were never found. Anna Duke, defending, told the court: 'In the cold and sober light of day, he realised what he had done in relation to all of these particular victims, more particularly in relation to the lead offence in Pasture Crescent.'
Duke said O'Neil's antecedent record had 'nothing of a similar nature' and he had never been to custody before. She added that he had been subject to very stringent bail conditions, including an electronically monitored curfew, and had lost his job as a result of the proceedings. 'He was employed in a job he loved. Because of these proceedings, his employers sacked him,' she said.
O'Neil admitted burglary and four counts of attempted burglary. Wearing a blue Nike t-shirt in the dock, he was jailed for three years and handed a restraining order preventing him from contacting his ex-girlfriend and her mother for 10 years.
Sentencing, Judge Ian Unsworth KC said: 'These offences relate to an early morning attempted burglary and burglary spree on streets in Moreton. You targeted three different roads, three properties on Town Meadow Lane, one on Lingham Lane and, finally, a successful burglary at a property you know all too well at Pasture Crescent.'
Of the burglary at his former partner's home, the judge added: 'You must have known that she was living there at the time with her four-year-old son and mother. There was a hooded man standing over her, staring at her. She must have been utterly terrified. She indicates that she feels completely unsafe now and disgusted because you came into her home. This should be her safe haven. You have taken this away from her now.'
