A HOMELESS drug addict who broke into a grieving widower’s home and smashed it up with a crowbar was spared an immediate jail sentence at Bradford Crown Court today.

Vernon Gregory had run up a £400 debt and was begging on the streets to feed his up to £200 a day cocaine habit when he forced his way into the Shipley address, smashed a window, deliberately pulled down blinds and curtains, damaged pictures and cracked the bath panel.

The court heard that Gregory, 23, targeted the house at 10pm on October 28, 2019, at the behest of his dealers who “roped him in” to do the damage.

Gregory, of Grafton Street, Grimsby, pleaded guilty to burglary, going equipped with a crowbar and failing to surrender to Bradford and Keighley Magistrates Court on February 8 this year.

Prosecutor Abdul Shakoor said a warrant was issued for his arrest and he was apprehended in Grimsby.

The court heard that the house in Shipley had been lived in by a couple for more than half a century. When the man was widowed he left the property, intending to sell it and give half the money to charity.

His neighbour heard banging at the two-bedroom house late at night and saw a torch shining inside the glass front door. He rang the police and returned when he heard breaking glass.

He apprehended Gregory outside the property. He struggled free only to be arrested by the police who were quickly on the scene.

On the way to the police station, Gregory made frank admissions, saying he was “roped into it” to pay off his drug debt. He was given the crowbar and told to cause damage.

He said he had been homeless for more than three years, begging on the streets to fund his addiction.

The householder was traumatised when he saw that more than £1,000 worth of “mindless damage” had been done to the home he had shared with his wife for over 50 years, Mr Shakoor said.

Gregory had 14 previous convictions for 21 offences, including theft, battery, possession of a bladed article and begging.

His barrister, Allan Armbrister, said he was living a chaotic lifestyle at the time but now had a settled address and had committed no offences since. He had weaned himself off cocaine and had turned his life around.

Judge Neil Davey QC sentenced Gregory to 21 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, with a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 20 days.

He pointed to the unaccountable delay in bringing the case to its conclusion, Gregory’s lack of any offending since and the fact that he had turned his life around.