A burglar stole a "bizarre" list of items including dog clippers and a garden fork before grabbing a kitchen knife when disturbed by one of his victims, a court has heard.
Marcus Carroll lashed out with the blade as his victim used a skateboard as a shield to protect himself from the blows.
The 48-year-old defendant can remember little of the night in question due to his level of intoxication through drink and heroin.
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Swansea Crown Court heard the raids took place in the Penparcau estate in Aberystwyth on the night of August 2.
Tom Scapens, prosecuting, said in the space of just over an hour Carroll broke into two houses and into a garden shed from which the owner ran a dog grooming business. The defendant took a range of items including parts of dog clippers, a lock from a child stairgate, a watch, and a garden fork. All three properties were occupied and in the two houses he entered the intruder came face to face with the people who lived there, one of whom was a pregnant woman.
The court heard that when he was disturbed in the one of the houses he armed himself with a large kitchen knife and, with an open bottle of vodka in the other hand, began thrusting the weapon at the occupant. His victim was forced to grab a skateboard and use it "in a shield motion" to protect himself from the blows.
Police were called and Carroll was arrested at the scene still in possession of the knife.
Carroll, now of Middle Road, Cwmbwrla, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of burglary and to one of affray when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has 56 previous convictions for 224 offences including assault occasioning actual bodily harm, burglary, vehicle offences, and theft.
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James Hartson, for Carroll, said the defendant had issues with alcohol and a long-standing heroin addiction and he described the spree of offending as "a bizarre set of circumstances which was reflective of his condition at the time". He said his client had little memory of the events of the night but had instructed him that he would not have used the knife to harm anyone.
Judge Catherine Richards told Carroll that while intoxicated through drink and drugs he had broken into people's properties at night and confronted them. She said the "bold" assertion that the defendant would not have used the knife to hurt anyone was not a decision he could have made at the time because of his state and she said it must have been a frightening experience for all his victims.
Giving the defendant the required one-third discount for his guilty pleas the judge sentenced him to a total of 28 months in prison. Carroll will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
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