Neighbourhood dispute: Man broke into home armed with a rolling pin

Neighbourhood dispute: Man broke into home armed with a rolling pin

Two women sleeping upstairs in the property at La Pouquelaye were woken at about 11.10 pm on 27 August by the voice of James Birch, who was shouting out the name of a male occupant of the house and repeatedly saying: ‘He’s going to get this.’

One of the ‘shocked and terrified’ women shouted from upstairs: ‘Who the f**k are you and what the f**k are you doing in our house?’

At one point Birch (42), who was described as a conventional family man with no previous record, shouted from downstairs to ask the women if he could search the property to find the man but was told: ‘You are not ‘f***ing searching my house.’

Centenier Peter Garrett said that when the women told Birch that they had called the police, Birch left the property clapping his hands. The defendant dropped the rolling-pin in the garden and then sat on a wall outside waiting for officers to arrive.

Advocate Simon Franckel, defending, said that Birch had reached ‘the end of his tether’ with his neighbours at the Clos du Paradis estate.

He said that earlier the same day, the man Birch was looking for had threatened violence against the defendant and his family.

The lawyer submitted that there was a long history of ‘serious anti-social behaviour’ from the neighbouring property.

‘There is regular shouting from inside and outside the house, regular police raids, police dogs, and so on. Something seems to happen on a weekly basis,’ said the advocate.

Advocate Franckel said that the front door was unlocked and that his client was ‘very clear that he had made no threatening comments’ towards either of the two women.

The court heard that the man who Birch was looking for was out at the time, and that the defendant had been drinking at a wedding all day.

Advocate Franckel submitted that the ‘moment of madness’ was instigated by a ‘degree of provocation’ as a result of the earlier threats made towards his family.

Probation officer Nicky Allix, who carried out an assessment of Birch, said that she was confident the defendant would not commit a similar offence.

Birch pleaded guilty to charges of criminally breaking and entering with intent to commit a crime, and being in possession of an offensive weapon – namely a rolling-pin – in a public place.

In sentencing, Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris told Birch: ‘It was not for you to take the law into your own hands.’

He added: ‘When someone enters someone else’s home, particularly at night, especially when they have intent, it is a very serious matter.

‘On one level there was no violence threatened to anyone, there was no injury and no damage and you immediately withdrew when the police were called.

‘However, the gravity of the situation needs to be considered as to what might have happened if the neighbour
had been there, as it could have been so much worse.’

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