Bungling burglar falls from roof

A THUG who ransacked an elderly couple’s home in Grasscroft fell from the roof trying to escape, a court heard.

Scott Freeth (23), who was already on bail for a serious offence, was caught red-handed when 80-year old Brenda Benstead and her husband returned to their home in Mossley Road in August.

The elderly pair were walking to the front door when they heard their alarm activate. At the back of the house they saw Freeth in the kitchen.

He spotted them and ran upstairs. They saw him climbing out of an attic window. He tried to use a satellite dish to clamber down but fell before running off, injured.

Manchester Crown Court heard the distressed homeowners were shocked to see drawers and jewellery boxes had been opened and the contents strewn about the floor.

Freeth, of Thorncliffe Avenue, Dukinfield, was later arrested, having been identified by DNA in blood smears.

Juliet Berry, prosecuting, said that Freeth had been on bail at the time of the burglary, following a violent incident late in April in Hollingworth, Tameside, in which he and two other men went on a drunken rampage in Market Street and had damaged seven cars.

Freeth, who had pleaded guilty to burglary at the Grasscroft home, was jailed for 16 months, plus 12-months for the Hollingworth incident after pleading guilty to affray.

Avisha Ghulati, defending, said her client had been disgusted at what he had done. He had decided on impulse to break into the home and hadn’t known the owners were elderly.