This burglar robbed the wrong flat, the last thing he heard was 'get the f*** out'

Wales Online

16 hours ago

This burglar robbed the wrong flat, the last thing he heard was 'get the f*** out'
Michael Parker was punched, hit with a bottle of Bud, and thrown out of the back door.
Michael Parker
(Image: South Wales Police )
A burglar caught going through his victim's fridge was beaten up, hit with a beer bottle, and thrown out of the flat, a court has heard. Michael Parker - who has more than 150 previous offences on his record - was arrested a matter of days after the raid when he attended court on unrelated matters.
A judge at Swansea Crown Court said it must have been a terrifying experience for the victim to find a hooded man in his kitchen, and he said immediate custody was inevitable in the case. Parker's advocate said his 46-year-old client can remember little or nothing about the events of the night due to the amount of Valium he had consumed.
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Harry Dickens, prosecuting, told the court that at around 6.30pm on February 24 this year a man was sat on the sofa in his flat in Mount Pleasant, Swansea, when he heard a "rustling noise" coming from the kitchen. The homeowner went to investigate and found Parker - his face obscured by two hoods - rifling through his fridge.
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The court heard the homeowner told the intruder to "get the f***" out of my property" before punching him in the face. Parker responded by grabbing the victim and throwing "wild punches" in his direction and two men began "grappling" before going to the floor taking various kitchen items with them.
The court heard Parker "tried to fight his way to his feet" and made for a bottle of Budweiser beer which had fallen to the floor but the homeowner got it first and used it to strike, causing the bottle to smash. The fight continued with the defendant throwing punches but the victim managed drag him to the back door and throw him out, locking the door behind him. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter
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The prosecutor said Parker made off and victim called 999 to report the incident. The defendant was identified after CCTV footage was recovered which showed him making his way down Mount Pleasant hill and past the Albert Hall as he made good his escape.
The court heard the defendant was arrested at Swansea Magistrates Court on February 28 after attending the court for an unrelated matter. In his interview he gave officers a prepared statement denying the burglary.
Michael Parker, of Talley Road, Penlan, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to burglary with intent to commit grievous bodily harm (GBH) when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has 74 previous convictions for 158 offences including seven for domestic and commercial burglaries, one of which was burglary with intent to commit GBH from 1996. At the time of the Mount Pleasant fridge raid he was subject to a suspended sentence for assaulting emergency workers and racially aggravated assault.
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Stuart John, for Parker, said the defendant has little or no recollection of the events of the evening because of the "substantial quantity" of Valium he had taken. He said his client has experienced mental health problems all his life and drug misuse problems since adolescence, and said Parker could not explain why he had taken so much Valium on the day in question as he felt he had been making progress in the community.
Judge Paul Thomas KC said on a dark February evening the defendant, with his face effectively masked, had entered his victim's home in what must have been a terrifying incident for the homeowner. He said he had read about the defendant's mental health issues and about the significant degree of support he was receiving from organisations including The Wallich but he said Parker's previous offences and the court's duty to protect the public meant a sentence of immediate custody was unavoidable.
With a one-quarter discount for his guilty plea Parker was sentenced to three years in prison for the burglary; the judge activated three months of the previously imposed eight-month suspended sentence to run consecutively making an overall sentence of three years and three months in prison. The defendant will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.