Drunken mum who led masked raid on a Longridge family home learns fate at Preston Crown Court
A drunken mum who led a masked raid on a family home in Longridge has been spared jail after a judge decided to show mercy because of her two young children.
Abigail Walmsley was given a suspended prison sentence for her part in what Preston Crown Court heard was a “nasty” late night attack on a house while three other kids slept upstairs.
The 31-year-old appeared alongside three men to be sentenced for the violent raid which forced a terrified mother to move house and change her children’s schools.
But while two of the men were jailed for their part in the crime, Walmsley avoided immediate prison because she was said to be the sole carer for her two youngsters.
“This act of mercy is not aimed at you,” Judge Paul Hodgkinson told her. “I make it clear to you the reason I do that is out of concern for the welfare of the children – even though you showed a scant disregard for the victim’s children.
“The way you behaved towards another woman – and another mother – is frankly despicable.”
Judge Hodgkinson said the welfare of the kids had been a significant factor in his sentencing “to avoid undue hardship to innocent children”.
Walmsley and her three accomplices pleaded guilty to burglary, assault causing actual bodily harm, criminal damage and possessing an offensive weapon.
They appeared in court last week to hear their fate for launching the attack which caused wholesale damage to the downstairs of the terraced house in Mersey Street, Longridge in September last year. But sentence was put off for five days to allow the judge time to consider his options.
When the case returned to court Andrew Wilson, 29, of Coleridge Street, Blackburn was sent to prison for three years and two months.
Brandon Howarth, 27, of Higher Peak Crescent, Clitheroe, was jailed for two years and 10 months.
The youngest of the group 20-year-old Dylan Muir, of Stirling Street, Blackburn, who was said to have learning difficulties, was given a two-year sentence suspended for two years, ordered to complete 100 hours unpaid work and tagged for a six-month curfew at home between 8pm and 6am.
And Walmsley, of Higher Peak Crescent, Clitheroe, was also given a two-year sentence suspended for two years. She was ordered to complete 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days and put on an 8pm to 6am curfew for six months.
In addition she was banned from driving for two years after failing a breath test when she was arrested after the attack.
The court heard Walmsley had driven the three men to the woman’s home three times in the space of 40 minutes. The men were all masked and on the first occasion they three beer bottles at a woman visiting the address.
When they came back 10 minutes later a bottle of vodka was thrown through the front window. And half an hour after that they returned and forced their way into the woman’s house, pushing her by the face inside the property before Walmsley was said to have got hold of her by the head and “ragged her around”.
They then set about causing extensive damage to the property using a hammer, smashing a TV, washing machine, tumble drier, fridge-freezer and front door. Judge Hodgkinson described the damage as “extensive.”
The victim’s three young children were upstairs at the time of the attack and as a result the mother moved house and changed her children’s schools for fear of further violence.
The judge told all four: “The impact, consequences, (on the victim and her children) have been profound. They had to leave their home and the children had to change schools. Your actions caused significant psychological harm.
“A home should be a place of safety, yet it was deliberately invaded and violated by you. A weapon was carried, a hammer, and extensive damage caused, (at) a substantial loss.
“There were children present, it was committed while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It was a group activity carried out by you all at night.”
He told Walmsley the least possible sentence he could pass on her was two years in prison but added: “I feel that after what I have read and heard about you I am able to suspend that sentence.”
But he warned her that if she committed another offence in the next two years or breached the terms of her suspended sentence she would not get another chance.
“I will remember this case, I will remember you and I will remember the warning I have given you. So don’t come back before me again, don’t commit any offences. If you come back before me I will send you to prison.”