Student chef burgled Leeds family home leaving children unable to sleep on their own
A university student and part-time chef ransacked a family home which has left the children unable to sleep on their own.
The youngsters living at the semi-detached property in Chapeltown now even hide their own toys in case Trimmane Clarke returns, Leeds Crown Court heard this week.
Clarke broke into the home in the early hours of September 22, using a chair to climb in through an open kitchen window.
The occupier had put his two daughters to bed hours earlier before going to bed himself. At 3.20am he went downstairs and found the front door open, through which Clarke had exited the premises.
He had stolen a laptop and a gold bracelet worth around £250. A fingerprint belonging to 34-year-old Clarke was later found on the inside of the kitchen window. He was arrested but gave a no-comment interview.
In a victim impact statement from the children’s father, read to the court, he said the youngsters were fearful of being left alone at night, and that the family now all sleep in one room.
Clarke, of Baldovan Terrace, Chapeltown, later admitted a charge of dwelling burglary. He was given a 16-week suspended sentence in February for possession of a bladed article, putting him in breach of that sentence.
He appeared in court via video link from HMP Lincoln where he was being held on remand.
Mitigating, Andrea Parnham said Clarke is from the Turks and Caicos Islands in the West Indies and had come to the UK in 2021 to enrol in a business and tourism degree at the Global Banking School in Leeds.
He had completed two years and was hoping to start his final year in January next year, and that he worked in the food industry as a chef. She said “everything was going great” until his partner ended their relationship.
He was left homeless, sleeping between his car and sofa surfing at friends’ homes. She said he was also drinking heavily. She said the break-in was “opportunistic”, that he saw the window open and went in looking for food, but took more.
Judge Richard Mansell KC rejected this claim and told Clarke: “It was not an impulsive offence. You must have been out and about looking for unsecure premises to enter.”
He jailed him for two years.