26 June 2024 , 20:56
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A “monster” who smashed his way into a home and terrified two young children inside before stealing car keys and escaping has been jailed.
Daniel Hodgkinson, 37, threw a bottle through a downstairs window and went into the home in Fegg Hayes, Stoke-on-Trent. After grabbing the keys he got behind the wheel of the Peugeot and reversed into a taxi before driving to his family’s home. Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard his brother called police and told them he believed he had just “nicked a car”. The defendant ran off and was found by police in possession of a screwdriver, StokeonTrentLive reported.
He tested positive for cocaine at the roadside but failed to give a sample of blood in custody. Hodgkinson pleaded guilty to burglary, theft, criminal damage, dangerous driving, possession of an offensive weapon, failing to stop after an accident, driving without insurance and failing to provide a specimen of blood for analysis.
Prosecutor James Hudson said a woman left her two children inside her home while she nipped to the shop at 8.55pm on April 3. One of her children then rang to say a man had walked into the house. She ran home and saw her Peugeot car being driven off at high speed.
In a victim statement the woman said her children now feel unsafe in their home and added she had to replace the window, change the locks and install CCTV. She added: “I hope my children never have to see this monster." Mr Hudson said: “She saw her front window had been smashed. A bottle was thrown through the window which narrowly missed her son's head.
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“[The taxi driver] saw the Peugeot drive towards him. It swerved across him into the Kingdom of Jehovah's Witnesses centre. It reversed at speed and collided with the taxi, causing it to spin around and come to rest on grass. The taxi was written-off and the driver lost a week's takings of up to £1,400."
Jason Holt, mitigating, said monkey dust was at the root of Hodgkinson's problems. He started to spiral after losing his relationship. In June 2023 he gave someone a lift to The George Hotel, , and was introduced to monkey dust. He smoked it and became paranoid. He sold all his items in his flat to obtain monkey dust. He ran around naked and was convicted of exposure.
Mr Holt added: "He was paranoid. He offers, through me, his sincere apologies for the distress he has caused." Recorder Robert Smith said: "What you did, a strange man, walking into the house uninvited, terrified those children. It had a real impact on them. You reversed at speed and collided with the taxi. It was a forceful impact, causing it to spin around and face the wrong way. You should have stopped but you sped off to escape.
"People who burgle houses occupied by children while under the influence of intoxicating substances, steal a family car, crash into another vehicle and are in possession of a weapon when struggling with the police can only expect an immediate prison sentence." Hodgkinson has been jailed for two years and disqualified from driving for three years and until he passes an extended test. The ban will be extended by 12 months to account for the time he will spend in jail.