A PAIR of armed thugs who tried to burgle the homes of terrified Flintshire residents have been locked up.
Leon Longmore, of Broughton Heights in Pentre Broughton, Wrexham, appeared at Mold Crown Court for sentence on Wednesday morning alongside co-defendant Sam Roberts, of Hafod Road in Gwernymynydd.
The pair, both aged 23, had previously admitted two offences of attempted burglary and one of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
Jemma Gordon, prosecuting, told the court that on February 22, Whitney Youd - of Maes y Coed in Mynydd Isa - was awoken in the early hours of the morning by banging on the door of her home.
Via her Ring doorbell, she could see two balaclava-clad males (the defendants) kicking the door and by their voice, she could identify one of them as Longmore.
Concerningly, she could see the second male was holding a weapon which appeared to potentially be a gun.
Eventually, the defendants left, leaving Ms Youd wondering why they had tried to gain entry to her home.
The second attempted burglary happened at Victory Court in Mold, when the defendants attempted to entre the home of Dayah Evans and Leslie Checketts.
Ms Evans had been asleep downstairs when she awoke to loud banging and screamed for help from her partner, Mr Checketts.
He came down the stairs and opened the door to find out what was happening, only to see the defendants, one of whom had what appeared to be a gun pointed at his head.
Mr Checketts immediately closed the door, having no idea why his home had been targeted, following which the police were called.
A woman named Olivia Woolley gave a statement to the police following the defendants' arrest; explaining she had been driving both men around in the early hours of the morning.
They stopped at a shop where the defendants bought a bottle of prosecco to drink between them.
After looking at something on a phone, and drinking most of the alcohol, the defendants told her to take them to Roberts' address - where they picked up the balaclavas and weapons.
She believed they had a real gun and heard them talking about having to spray it with bleach to remove their DNA.
Ms Woolley said she was 'terrified' and drove where she was told; first to Mynydd Isa, where the men appeared to "gear up" before going to Ms Youd's home and then on to the second property in Mold - where they committed the attempted burglaries.
When they later jumped out and ran she burst into tears in the car, not knowing what to do; but later told police what had happened.
In a statement read to the court by Ms Gordon, Dayah Evans said: "I saw a gun being pointed directly at Leslie's head.
"I genuinely believed my partner was going to be killed in front of me."
She emphasised that she and her partner were "innocent people [who were] terrorised in their own home," adding: "We did not deserve this.
"Time has passed but our home no longer feels like a safe place."
Ms Gordon concluded that Longmore had nine previous convictions for 12 offences, but Roberts was a man of previous good character without a single conviction to his name.
Harvey Appleby, defending Longmore, said: "On the evening, Mr Longmore was using drugs and alcohol.
"He was acting out of a desire to sustain those urges.
"Mr Longmore wishes me to express his sincere remorse for, what he acknowledges would have been, an extremely distressing incident.
"From speaking to him, it comes across clearly that he was at the bottom of a deep spiral; and in his own words, this was a 'disgusting conclusion' to that spiral.
"He can't believe the position he put himself and others in that night."
Mr Appleby added his client had been in A&E the day before the offence owing to his over-use of prescription medication, cocaine and ketamine which he had been abusing.
Myles Wilson, defending Roberts, told the court: "He has no previous convictions - not even a caution. It is striking just how out of character this behaviour was."
He explained his client's life had been 'knocked off course' by his use of, and desperation for, cocaine.
"He is ashamed of the impact he's had on others," Mr Wilson said.
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"It's not terribly sophisticated. They got the wrong house and drove up in a car whose number plate was filmed on CCTV - that's how they were caught."
He conceded that while it may not have been a particularly 'prolonged' incident in each case, it would nevertheless have been "very frightening" for the victims.
Longmore received an overall custodial sentence of 45 months, with Roberts receiving one of 40.
A 10-year restraining order was imposed for the protection of the victims.
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