A vulnerable pensioner left traumatised after being held prisoner for three hours by a masked burglar was forced to leave her home.
David Taylor (43), who had 118 previous convictions, was handed sentences amounting to 68 months for the incident which left the 86-year-old victim suffering from depression and PTSD.
A court heard that Taylor also threatened to stab the victim with a screwdriver.
Imposing 44 months for offences arising from the burglary and other incidents on November 30 2022, Judge Alistair Devlin also activated previously suspended jail sentences of two years for similar offending, to be served consecutively.
Taylor will serve half his sentence in jail and half under supervised license conditions.
North Antrim MP Jim Allister said it was “surprising” Taylor had not been considered “to pose a serious risk of harm to the public” by the court.
Judge Devlin had been scathing in his sentencing remarks and in describing Taylor’s crimes as “despicable offending”.
The judge said the victim had been left so traumatised by the terrifying and prolonged ordeal, committed in the sanctity of her home that she had sold it and moved in with her daughter.
Revealing that amongst the items taken by drug addict Taylor “and never recovered” was a gold Star of David given to her by her husband of more than 60 years.
Judge Devlin said despite Taylor’s claims that he thought the house was empty, when he was confronted by the 86-year-old victim “you could easily have left and just gone home”.
“Instead however you chose to remain there for three and a half hours inside this lady’s home” said the judge.
He heard that during the prolonged order, Taylor threatened to stab her with a screwdriver “up to the handle” and dragged her back and assaulted her when she tried to leave by the back door.
Speaking after sentencing, a PSNI spokesman said: “This was a disturbing and very frightening incident for the victim, a woman aged 86.
“David Taylor forced his way into the woman’s property, in the Hollybank Park area of Ballymena, in the early hours of Wednesday 30th November 2022, and proceeded to ransack a number of rooms while forcing the victim to remain in her bedroom.
“The thought of someone being in your home, a place rightly supposed to be a place of safety, is a complete violation of your security. The impact of burglary isn’t just financial either. It can also impact a person’s sense of security which can impact on a person’s emotional well-being.”
Mr Allister told The Irish News: “I find it surprising that with such a record and the horrific facts of the subject offending that the court decided the accused did not pose a serious risk of harm to the public.
“Consequently, though consecutive to the implemented previous suspended sentence, 22 months in prison for what this elderly lady was put through does not strike me as adequate.”