Kirkby burglar was ‘off her head’ when she broke into home with wooden pole

Kimberley Briggs woke up her victim when she smashed a window with a wooden pole and got into his kitchen on Rowan Drive, at 4.30am on July 1, said Devni Kitulagoda, prosecuting.

She repeatedly asked him, "Are you the police?" before retreating through the shattered window and climbing over the fence into his neighbour’s garden.

She sat on a bench and fell asleep where police found her with cuts on her arm. When she was asked her name, she claimed to be “Matthew Bambeck.”

Her victim said he relives the experience constantly and now sleeps on the sofa every night because he is worried for the safety of his wife and young children.

He has lost work because of the incident and is no longer able to rely on his no claims bonus.

When Briggs was interviewed, she told police “she was off her head,” but didn’t know why she went there other than to steal money.

Nottingham Crown Court heard she has 23 previous convictions for 62 offences and was last in trouble for fraud in 2019.

As well as 23 thefts and three robberies, between 2004 and 2019, she has also been convicted of two burglaries in 2004 and 2005, which means she is a third-strike burglar and subject to the mandatory minimum sentence.

Briggs, who represented herself, said: “I was out of order and apologise. I am in a better state.”

She told the court she is trying to address her drug addiction while she is in custody at HMP Foston Hall.

“There are going to be drugs wherever I go,” she said. “It's whether I choose to take them.”

On Thursday, Judge James Sampson told her: “You are obviously very clear and lucid today, unlike when you were committing this burglary.”

Sentencing her to just under two years and five months in prison, he said. “I hope you do beat your addiction and stay free of drugs and come out and set your life behind you.”

Briggs, aged 37, of Brierly Road, Sutton, admitted dwelling burglary with intent to steal, on July 3.