A mum-of-four who was left scarred for life by her own son after he launched a vicious knife attack on her ex-boyfriend has herself been jailed following a spate of burglaries. Anne-Marie Thornton, 43, was arrested after she repeatedly tried to break into her neighbours' homes by testing the door handles of various properties.
Last year, Thornton and her now ex-boyfriend were stabbed by her son Tyrell, 21, in a frenzied knife attack. Tyrell knifed the 34-year old man 13 times about in the back, chest, arm and thigh after finding him in his mother's bedroom and accusing him of being violent towards her.
He then accidentally slashed his mother across the face as she tried to stop him before running off. His male victim was rushed to hospital in a critical condition and had to undergo emergency surgery for a collapsed lung as Tyrell was jailed for five years last December.
READ MORE:
Now, Thornton finds herself behind bars for a string of separate crimes. She was charged following an investigation into a spate of ''sneak-in'' thefts in Chadderton, Oldham. One neighbour was watching TV at midnight when she came face-to-face with Thornton trying to sneak in through a sliding patio door.
Others had children at home when Thornton tried to get inside by testing if the doors were unlocked. One victim lost a handbag and two of the raids occurred within 45 minutes each other, and were committed whilst Thornton was on bail.
At Minshull Street Crown Court on Wednesday, April 20, Thornton of Chadderton, near Oldham, wept as she was jailed for 15 months after she admitted six charges including two charges of burglary and four of attempted burglary.
She claimed she had carried out the offences to feed a drug habit she developed. She had been in custody for the previous five weeks at Styal women's prison in Cheshire.
The court heard the raids occurred between November last year and March this year after the stabbing took place the previous April. David Lees prosecuting said Thornton would try the door handles of houses in her neighbourhood and was often confronted by the occupiers who then played back CCTV of her fleeing the scene.
One victim said she was left ''scared'' by the attempt to break into her home. Another heard the front door open and saw Thornton's feet in the lobby area before she pushed the door shut. A third victim heard her front door being opened and saw Thornton standing in the doorway.
The offences occurred whilst Thornton was high on drugs. The court heard Thornton had two minor offences on her record from the mid 1990s but nothing since.
In mitigation, defence counsel Alison Heyworth said: ''This was a case of someone trying door handles and on two occasions the door to the house was opened and on one of these occasions something was taken from the porch. It was unsophisticated in the extreme and borne out of desperation and there is remorse expressed.
''She is now engaging with abuse and drug services to free herself from the addiction of which she had fallen foul."
She aded: ''Against that background her then partner a Class A drug user actively encouraged Miss Thornton to engage which she did due to the emotional state she was in. Her fall from grace has been nothing short of catastrophic.
''It's had a devastating effect on her and her family. Her fervent hope is once she has rid herself of her addiction to drugs she can be a more active parent to her children. She has a supportive new partner now who is not a drug user. She wants to rid herself of drugs.''
Sentencing Thornton, Judge Mark Savill told her: ''You became involved in Class A drugs and entered into to an unpleasant and abusive relationship and there was this spectacular fall from grace.
''The chaos present in your life culminated in your own son being sent to prison for assault on you and your previous partner. You also had difficulties managing your own children and all this seems to have burst through the dam.
''But this was an intrusion, interference and trespass upon the sanctity of people's homes and in all of these cases they were affected by that. You were chancing your arm whilst under the influence of drugs. People should be allowed to live in their homes without fear of people like you trying their luck and trying to get inside.''
