A TEENAGE burglar has been locked up for two years after drunkenly walking into an old woman’s house late at night and stealing a pair of binoculars.

But Kimberley Angell, 19, of Bellhouse Way, in Foxwood, York, said she only walked into the home in Shipton Road, York, because she was told a party was being held there.

At York Crown Court, Alan Mitcheson, prosecuting, said Angell had admitted burglary on the basis she had not gone into the house with the intention of stealing anything.

He said she had opened the unlocked front door of the 84-year-old woman’s home and entered the room where the woman was sitting reading.

Mr Mitcheson said Angell scanned the room then walked out and into the living room where she turned the light on and picked up a small leather case containing the binoculars.

The woman, a retired nurse, followed her and grabbed hold of Angell’s arm, telling her to put back the binoculars, which were a present from her son.

Angell turned on her, shouted at her to let go of her arm and then walked out.

Angell was arrested shortly after when she and two other women tried to force a motorist to give them a lift.

Mitigating, Glenn Parsons said Angell had not gone out with the intention of burgling the woman and had been so drunk she could barely remember it.

Mr Parsons said: “In the sober light of day she is appalled by what she did.”.

Judge Stephen Ashurst said the offence was very serious.

He said: “I take the view that it’s not appropriate to impose a suspended sentence on someone who has burgled the home of an 84-year-old woman at night.

“I don’t imagine it’s any comfort to the householder to know this was a young lady with a drink problem. She took hold of your arm to persuade you to leave and you told her to take her hands off you. It is easy to imagine the feelings she had that night.”

He sentenced Angell to 21 months detention for the burglary plus a further three months consecutive for breaching a community order imposed six weeks before the burglary for biting a police officer.