16-year-old boy hid in attic while teen raiders ransacked family home
TWO teenage burglars have been locked up after ransacking a house while a terrified teenager hid in the attic.
A court heard the 16-year-old boy phoned his father – who had just left their home – when the raiders broke through a conservatory door.
He told his dad to call police and asked him to come back home, said Sarah Lloyd, prosecuting.
She told Derby Crown Court: "The 16-year-old was upstairs studying in his attic bedroom and heard a noise downstairs. He was aware someone was breaking in.
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"He was frightened the two burglars would find him. He could hear them moving from room to room and thought they were ransacking the place."
The boy finally emerged when he realised police had arrived. Rooms had been ransacked and a laptop stolen in the 1pm raid on the home in Snelston Crescent, Littleover, on June 21.
Jordan Parker, 19, of Radbourne Street, Derby, and homeless Joshua Teehan, 18, were each sentenced to three years in a young offenders' institute.
Parker was found guilty of burglary after a trial but Teehan admitted burglary; he also admitted possessing a bladed article in public on Gower Street, Derby, on February 22.
Judge Michael Fowler said the Littleover home appeared to have been chosen because one of the pair thought it contained "Asian gold" which could be easily sold.
He told the pair: "If you break into people's homes, you will find people inside. That's the risk you take. It doesn't matter if you knock on the door – an elderly lady is scared to answer and a young man upstairs studying doesn't want to answer the door.
"You're looking around and he's wondering whether you'll come upstairs and discover him hiding. He's terrified and you're aimless with nothing better to do than take other people's property."
Kevin Waddingham, for Teehan, said his client was taking drugs, which caused "a certain amount of paranoia".
He told the judge: "His lifestyle was of some concern because he was on the fringes of gang culture at the time."
Teehan has now been seen by a psychiatrist who gave him medication after attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was diagnosed.
Mr Waddingham said: "He has been in custody for five months and clearly had the opportunity to reflect on the offences he has committed. He has written a letter which shows a slightly more mature attitude, more responsible and realistic."
David Webster, for Parker, said the doorbell was rung before the burglary to ensure the home was unoccupied.
He said Parker had shown "some remorse" for the burglary – his first – and asked the probation service to deliver a letter of apology to the victims.
The judge replied: "To use the colloquial, they would probably think he was having a laugh."
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