A woman spared jail for trashing her ex's home in a "mean" burglary was back in court today for doing the same thing to another victim.
Lauren Blaney caused more than £2,000 of loss and damage when she raided her former partner's address in Aintree in March last year. She wrecked James Campbell's flat with her new boyfriend - breaking prized possessions and leaving Mr Campbell's home covered in broken glass and splattered with her blood - because she blamed him "for her children being taken away".
Blaney, who admitted carrying out the burglary in a drunken rage, was handed 21 months in prison, suspended for two years, in September. But this morning the 30-year-old appeared at Liverpool Crown Court again, via video link from HMP Styal, where she has since been remanded in custody.
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Blaney had admitted another burglary, carried out at a home in Everton, on June 17 last year - just three months after she turned Mr Campbell's house upside down. According to the details of the new charge, she "having entered as a trespasser" a house in Handfield Street, "stole therein electrical items and toiletries" and "the value of these items and damage caused is approximately £1,000".
That burglary does not put Blaney in breach of the suspended sentence she received in September, because it was committed before she received that punishment. However, the court heard the Probation Service has been asked to look into whether Blaney has breached the terms of her suspended sentence, which had requirements including a 12-month drug rehabilitation course, a 30-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and a six-month home curfew, between 8pm and 8am daily.
Michael Bagley, defending, said the case was also adjourned earlier this month so probation officers could interview his client for a pre-sentence report, yet neither of these tasks had been completed. Blaney, of Spellow Lane, Walton, confirmed no one from the Probation Service had seen her at Styal.
Judge David Swinnerton said he would adjourn sentencing until April 27 so the Probation Service could obtain the report. He told Blaney: "It was your own fault it wasn't ready last time - it's their fault it isn't ready today."
Judge Swinnerton said it seemed to him a jail sentence was "inevitable". He remanded Blaney in custody.
In September, the court heard a member of the public rang police after seeing Blaney and a man at Mr Campbell's home at around 8pm on March 21, 2021. They reported seeing Blaney hitting a window with her victim's guitar and hearing her shout that she had found £80.
Police arrived and discovered the front window of the ground floor flat in Rowsley Grove smashed. Nardeen Nemat, prosecuting, said: "There were spots of blood on shattered glass and blood splatters around the address."
The pair fled but an officer spotted them on Longmoor Lane, leading to an altercation with her male companion, during which Blaney left. A rucksack she had been seen carrying was handed to police and found to contain food taken from the flat.
In total £2,180 of damage had been caused to the property and contents including a £900 guitar, two TV sets, ornaments and clothes and a £500 guitar were missing.
Mr Campbell, 48, who was out at the time of the break-in, said he hadn't had contents insurance and was left out of pocket. His landlord boarded up the window and door, meaning he could only access his home from a rear alley.
The victim said: "I was scared it was some kind of vendetta so I did not feel safe using the alley." Mr Campbell said he had been focusing on seeing his daughters after the couple's break-up 18 months earlier.
Mr Campbell said he was trying to provide a stable environment for his children to stay, but this was set back when his home was "obliterated". He said: "I cannot understand why she did this, it feels so vindictive."
When interviewed by police, Blaney told officers "she blamed Mr Campbell for her children being taken away". Ms Nemat said: "She said she had been drinking heavily and was very drunk, she became angry and decided to damage his house."
Blaney claimed her boyfriend Neil Woods smashed the window and once it was broken, she climbed inside. The mum said she was "still feeling very angry and once inside made a mess and could not stop smashing things up".
She said she stole food and £30, which she used to buy vodka and to get a taxi, and ditched one of her victim's guitars in an alley. Blaney, formerly of Linacre Road, Litherland, admitted burglary.
Rachel Oakdene, defending Blaney at that hearing, said a pre-sentence report revealed her chaotic lifestyle. She said her client was receiving treatment for drug and alcohol misuse, hoped to get her children back, and jailing her would not address her issues.
On that occasion, Recorder Ian Harris said her pre-sentence report made for "very sad reading". However, he said she had successfully completed rehabilitation and suspended prison sentence orders previously, and it wasn't clear if she had just "flouted everything she learnt" or her personal problems had come to a head.
He said he would impose a suspended prison sentence to punish her but also to try to help her, adding: "If I am wrong you will be brought back here and go to prison."
