A JUDGE told an intruder who smashed his way into the home of a pensioner: “One doesn’t need to look at the impact statement to know the devastating affect a burglary can have on a householder, particularly an 81-year-old, undermining the independence of someone living alone in the community.”

Recorder Alistair Malcolm QC heard howWayne Cull had downed three bottles of cider before smashing the pane in the front door of the victim’s home in Southampton.

The break-in was reported to police by parents as they collected children from a nearby school but by the time they reached the scene, Cull and an accomplice had left the scene.

Prosecutor Jane Terry told Winchester Crown Court how Cull left his blood on drawers in a search for items to steal.

Cull, 34, of Cunningham Gardens, Bursledon, admitted burglary and was jailed for 15 months.

The judge heard Cull had committed his first burglary in 1996 and in 2000 and 2002 had been jailed for three-anda- half years and four years respectively for robbery.

In mitigation, Daniel Reilly said Cull apologised and realised the impact the unsophisticated burglary would have had on his victim, explaining how he had made repeated efforts to tackle his drug and alcohol mis-use which acted as a mask for his traumatic upbringing.

“He has made genuine attempts to break his drug problem that has ruled half of his life, having first taken heroin at 16.”