Brave woman praised for battling drug addict burglar

A Stubbington resident was completely shaken and taken aback by what happened

Robert Parker has been jailed for four years and 10 months at Portsmouth Crown Court after admitting two thefts and two burglaries.

Martyn Booth, prosecuting, told how the 32-year-old, previously of Fay Close, Stubbington, had walked into a 54-year-old woman’s home in Lytchgate Green.

She was in the dining room when she saw a figure walk past the door and thought it was her son, but found Parker.

Mr Booth said: ‘She was very shocked by that. The male was to say to her “sorry love, wrong house”.

‘He then went into the dining room picking up her handbag. She grabbed hold of him by his arm, screaming at him to drop the bag.

‘She described herself as being terrified. The male went into the garden with her still clinging on to his arm.’

After again shouting at him, Parker finally dropped the bag and fled.

Reading her statement, Mr Booth said: ‘She was completely shaken and taken aback by what happened.’

He added: ‘She was determined he was not going to get away from her.’

Judge Ian Pearson commended the woman, calling her ‘brave’.

Parker had burgled the victim’s home on the same day, June 7, after terrifying an 84-year-old woman when he put his hand through a slightly open window.

The widow sat in her living room in Pinewood Close, Stubbington.

After the burglary – in which Parker fled after the woman shouted out – she felt unable to leave her windows open.

Reading her statement, Mr Booth said: ‘She hopes she can get back to her old self of being a confident person.’

Earlier in the same day Parker, a drug addict who was taking Valium, had stolen a mobile phone from his mother who had only just let him stay with her.

The court heard Parker, who has 27 convictions for 67 offences, also stole more than £6,000 worth of gambling chips from Grosvenor Casino in Gunwharf Quays on April 1.

He admitted two thefts and two burglaries at an earlier hearing. He asked for a burglary on June 7, a non-dwelling burglary and a shoplifting offence, both on May 27, to be taken into account.

DC Jim Wells said he was pleased to provide closure for victims.

Speaking about the first victim, he added: ‘She should be commended for the way that she engaged with Parker, endangering her own safety to confront him, causing him to drop her handbag.’