Burglar was chased onto car roof by police dog in Eastwood
A burglar who was chased onto a car roof by a police dog in Eastwood before threatening to kill his former partner and her child has been jailed.
John Foster was equipped with a crow bar when a member of the public saw him and an accomplice coming and going from an address that was being renovated on Bailey Grove Road, just after midnight on January 28, 2024.
Amelia Trem, prosecuting, said Foster dropped the toolbox he was carrying and ran off when challenged by an officer.
A police dog named Max chased him onto the roof of a parked white Audi and took hold of his foot.
“I didn’t mean to,” he shouted. “I was forced to. I'm going to prison, aren't I?”
Foster was found with gloves, a balaclava, a drill battery and drill bits which he claimed he “was given them to hold.”
Stolen tools were lined up to be loaded into the Audi and more tools belonging to someone else were found in the boot.
Foster’s partner of six months had been trying to separate from him in the three weeks before his arrest, said Ms Trem.
He began turning up where she was and leaving abusive messages in September and October last year. When she tried to block him she would be bombarded with no caller ID calls.
“On my kid’s f****** life when I catch you I am going to murder you,” he said in one. “If I see you in your car you are f****** dead. I am coming for you. It will be the worst thing.”
Foster also assaulted the woman while snatching money she owed him from her hand and shouting: “I f****** swear to God I will f****** kill you.”
Nottingham Crown court heard Foster has 13 previous convictions for 22 offences including GBH, harassment, handling stolen goods and thefts from motor vehicles.
Steven Gosnell, mitigtating, said his mother’s death triggered “a prolonged bout of drink and drug abuse”.
After her funeral the father-of-three "took stock of his life” and has abstained from drugs altogether. He continues to suffer from drug-induced psychosis. His drinking has gone from bingeing to occasional.
“He has spent 96 days on a curfew,” Mr Gosnell said. “There has been a real sea-change in his attitude.”
Foster, aged 38, of Skeavingtons Lane, Ilkeston, admitted non-dwelling burglary, after initially denying it, breaching a suspended sentence, malicious communications and common assault.
On Thursday, Judge Nirmal Shant KC handed him 11 months in prison and imposed a five-year restraining order.