AN INTRUDER high on drink and drugs broke into a house in York and choked a seven-year-old boy until he felt "suffocated".

The victim is still too scared to go to bed by himself and keeps asking why Darren Graham Luke tried to kill him, York Crown Court heard.

Luke, 24, of Fossway, York, admitted criminal damage and actual bodily harm. He was jailed for 15 months.

Paul Williams, prosecuting, said Luke broke into the house at 3am and entered the bedroom where the victim and his four-year-old brother were sleeping.

Dressed in dark clothing, he pressed his hands round the older boy's neck, growling as he did so.

"This was an appalling way to treat a young and vulnerable child," Judge Robert Taylor told Luke. "You have children of your own; you must know how appalling it was to behave in this way.

"He is now of an age that it may well be he will carry memories of that terrifying night with him for the rest of his life."

Luke held his face in his hands as he was taken down to the cells.

Mr Williams said Luke had drunk brandy, cider and taken cannabis before he smashed a window in the house early on October 9.

When he attacked the older boy, the younger fled to their mother's room. She, woken by the growling, went to their room and Luke fled.

The older boy was bruised over his neck and shoulders and had minor injuries on his arm.

When police arrived, they saw Luke's car crash into a parked vehicle as he escaped. But his front bumper and number plate broke off and police traced him within the hour.

For Luke, Andrew Semple said he was ashamed and could not explain his actions, which were out-of-character. He had been unable to sleep that night after arguing with his mother over his current girlfriend and had wanted to stay at the boys' home as he knew their mother.

He had not intended to break the window and had tried to rouse the boys' mother before hitting it. Once inside the house, he heard the older boy crying and went to calm him down. He also told police the boy had been screaming. He panicked when he saw the mother and the police.

The mother of his own children described him as a "wonderful father", said Mr Semple.

Updated: 15:16 Wednesday, June 11, 2003