A brazen burglar left a woman scared to return to her own flat after she woke to find her inside her home.
High on drink and drugs, Danielle Monkhouse broke into into the property in Central Loft, in Gateshead, while the occupier was asleep after working a night shift. But the terrified victim awoke to find the 40-year-old rummaging through her belongings and bagging them up with the intention of stealing them.
Monkhouse claimed to have the "wrong house" and fled the scene - but only went as far as a flat two storeys up in the same block. This time, she let herself in and was again caught by the occupier having helped herself to some brownies, a court heard.
The crook, of The Avenue, in Deckham, Gateshead, left the scene one more but was arrested a short time later. She was due to appear at Newcastle Magistrates' Court earlier this month but failed to show and a warrant was issued for her arrest. She finally faced justice on Wednesday when she appeared in the dock in custody to plead guilty to two counts of burglary of a dwelling.
Prosecutor, Niamh Reading, said the first victim lived in a flat on the fifth floor of Central Lofts and had returned home from a night shift at around 4am on February 25 this year. Miss Reading continued: "At 3.30pm on the same day, she woke up to her dog barking. She'd never heard her dog barking like that before.
"She looked up and there was an unknown person standing in the doorway between the bedroom and the hallway. She removed her earplugs and screamed. The intruder, this defendant, said "Wrong apartment" and left. [The victim] was too terrified to leave her bedroom. A few minutes later, she did leave to see the person had gone."
The court heard that the woman noticed the some of her property had been put in bags beside her front door, including an X Box, food, cleaning products and an Apple TV. She also realised a Zara coat and an Apple TV remote had been taken, which were worth £135.
Miss Reading said Monkhouse hadn't gone far - just two storeys higher to another flat. This time, the occupant was at home with her flatmate, although both were alone in their bedrooms. The victim heard a noise from the living room and went to see what it was.
Miss Reading added: "She found a woman, this defendant, playing with lose change. She had never seen this female before and asked how she was and who she was. The defendant said she was there to meet someone called Sam. The victim said "There's no Sam here" and asked her to leave."
The court was told that Monkhosue apologised and left but it was discovered she'd helped herself to chocolate brownies.
In a statement, the victim of the first burglary said: "I was unable to stay at my property for a while after this incident happened - it made me feel emotional and scared to be in the apartment alone."
Andy O'Hanlon, defending, said Monkhouse had been suffering from a drugs problem at the time and had little recollection of either offences until she was told about them two-days later.
Giving her an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, Deputy District Judge Andrew Teate said: "You scared all the people in those flats and caused them considerable anxiety. I'm sure you will agree with the difficulties you have caused them. Entering someone else's home while occupied is an extremely serious offence."
