A CRIMINAL who targeted his neighbours in Kendal during an almost hour-long crime spree that involved a robbery, an attempted robbery, and a burglary has been jailed.

Christopher Ellis, 30, left one of his victims traumatised after going into her home, grabbing her by the throat and then threatening her with a corkscrew, which he used as a weapon as he brandished it and pressed it into her stomach.

The defendant was jailed for four years.

Carlisle Crown Court heard that Ellis - a man with 64 previous offences on his criminal record - committed all three offences in less than an hour.

The first offence - the burglary - came to light when two women returned to their grandmother’s flat in Kentgate Place, Kendal, at arout 5pm on October 28, 2019, and immediately noticed a pair of training shoes had been left at the front door. In the spare bedroom, they found the defendant sitting on a bed - almost as if he was entitled to be there, the court heard.

“They actually thought he was the cleaner,” said Peter Wilson, prosecuting.

The grandmother was unaware that he was in her flat.

As Ellis walked calmly out of the room, he began chatting with the two young women, telling of them that she was ‘beautiful’, making her feel uncomfortable.

He then left the flat, dropping a mobile phone as he went. It belonged to a relative of the elderly victim.

The attempted robbery happened a short time later when another resident found Ellis standing in his hallway.

When asked if he needed help, Ellis said that he wanted money. The resident told him he was at the wrong address - but Ellis replied: “No I’m not.

“Give me money or I’ll stab you.”

The victim was able to force the defendant through his front door and out of the flat before calling police, the court heard.

The final offence - the successful robbery - happened when Ellis simply walked into a third flat.

Thinking it was her husband returning home, the woman who lived there went to greet him, but was confronted by a stranger with the hood of his jacked pulled over his head.

Ellis grabbed her throat, pushed her against a wall, and brandished a corkscrew.

He pressed it against her stomach, repeatedly demanding cash as he did this.

The woman, 69, told him she had only £10 in her purse - and put the cash on a nearby table.

Ellis then asked her if she had jewellery but the woman repeated that the cash was all she had.

After this, Ellis was apologetic and left - though he returned later to look for his training shoes.

In a statement, the woman later said that what happened that day had affected her self-confidence and emotional wellbeing.

Russell Davies, for Ellis, accepted that the defendant’s mental health issues - which included a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia - did not cause him to commit the offences, all of which the defendant admitted.

“He committed these offences at a time when he was seriously addicted to various drugs, including psychoactive drugs,” said Mr Davies.

Ellis was ‘extremely sorry’ for his offending, he added.

Recorder Richard Archer said all three offences were all extremely seriously examples of the crimes admitted. Of the robbery offence victim, Recorder Archer said: “She must have been - in my judgement - terrified.”

The judge - after reading an ‘eloquent’ letter from Ellis - accepted he was remorseful and had made ‘very real efforts’ to rehabilitate himself while in jail. But the Recorder said he was satisfied that Ellis posed a ‘significant risk’ of causing serious harm.

As well as imposing the four-year jail term, with a two-year extended licence period, the Recorder imposed a seven-year restraining order, banning Ellis from having any contact with his victim or from going to Kentgate Place in Kendal, where he previously lived.

The defendant - appearing in court via a video link from prison - thanked the judge as the hearing ended.