Hatchet-wielding burglar confronted by Leeds homeowner during garage break-in

Opportunist Ryan Smillie was jailed this week for a “spree” of similar offences involving him hunting for items steal to feed his drug habit. He was already on a four-month suspended sentence at the time for a non-dwelling burglary.

Leeds Crown Court heard that 40-year-old Smillie initially found an unlocked car on February 6 this this year on Allerton Grange Way, Allerton Moor and rifled through the car looking for valuables. It was not until the owner checked CCTV that it showed Smillie getting into the car at around 3am and rummaging around in the glovebox.

He was then seen exiting the car and trying the handle of another vehicle before leaving the scene. But on February 19 a resident on Montagu Place in Roundhay was sent a notification by his doorbell camera at 1am after picking up Smillie on his driveway checking if his car was unlocked. The man used the bell’s microphone to warn off the intruder, who fled.

But just a few minutes later, another resident on the same street received a doorbell notification. The man went outside and found Smillie in his garage, which was detached from the three-bedroom property. He challenged him but Smillie lifted the small axe he was holding and made “threatening gestures” towards him, the court heard.

Smillie then jumped over a garden fence while still holding the axe, before dropping it and getting on his bicycle and fleeing. He also got into a parked car on The Drive in Lidgett Park than night and took off with a bag of items worth around £10.

Two days later police officers recognised Smillie from the CCTV footage and arrested him from his home on Ingleton Drive, Halton. He then gave a no-comment interview to police.

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Appearing in court via video link from HMP Doncaster, where he has been held on remand, he admitted burglary of a non-dwelling, two counts of vehicle interference, theft from a vehicle and possession of cannabis after he was found with a small quantity of the drug during his arrest. He has 69 previous convictions for 122 offences.

Mitigating, Charlotte Noddings said: “He has been addicted to drugs for most of his adolescent and adult life. However, since he has been in prison he has taken positive steps to address that addiction. He is committed to turning his life around and break the cycle he has been stuck in since he was 15.”

She said he has three children and is on medication having suffered from three strokes and a bleed on the brain.

Judge Tahir Khan KC said: “You’ve got a bad record, there’s no getting away from that fact. It’s a spree and it’s clear that until you change you are going to carry on committing offences of dishonesty.

“This has been the way you have behaved for many, many years. At 40 years of age, you should be putting criminality behind you. A custodial sentence is inevitable.” He jailed him for 12 months and activated one month of his suspended sentence, making a total of 13 months.