A Teesside man showed "utter incompetence" when he smashed the windows of an elderly lady in the mistaken belief that a paedophile lived at her property.
Robert Lawson, 49, of Meath Street, Ayresome, Middlesbrough, admitted charges of criminal damage and possession of a bladed article when he appeared at Teesside Magistrates' Court on Friday, 10th December 2021.
Possession of a bladed article is an offence under section 139(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. The offence, which is triable either way, has a maximum penalty of 6 months' custody on summary conviction, 4 years' custody on conviction on indictment.
The court heard that neighbours of the lady, who lives in the Acklam suburb of Middlesbrough, heard banging and smashing late at night. They looked outside to find the drunken 49-year-old with a large plank of wood, wrongly shouting that a paedophile lived at the property.
Residents in the street gave chase and detained Lawson. The police were called and search of Lawson's person yielded a Stanley knife.
Danielle Hewitt, mitigating, explained that it had been a case of mistaken identity.
"The defendant basically attacked the wrong house.
"On the night in question he was intoxicated and he was upset.
"Unfortunately it was the wrong house and the poor lady inside suffered the terror of having her windows smashed."
Ms Hewitt said that her client was remorseful and never intended to cause the lady any distress.
As for the blade, she said her client had absentmindedly forgotten about the Stanley knife in his pocket having engaged in a spot of decorating earlier in the day.
District Judge Helen Cousins sentenced Lawson to 16 weeks' custody suspended for 18 months, with an 8 week electronically-monitored curfew requirement.
She also ordered him to pay £150 in compensation to the lady whose windows he had damaged.
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