(Image: CLEVELAND POLICE)
An alcoholic left his neighbour terrified when she woke to him hurling rocks at her home and smashing a window after calling her a 'f****** grass'.
Lee Green targeted the woman after she gave police a statement about an unrelated public order offence, a judge heard.
Lee Green (Image: Cleveland Police)
The 44-year-old shouted ‘f****** grasses’ and hurled rocks at the woman’s home in the early hours.
Prosecutor Saba Shan said the woman looked out of her bedroom window after hearing it smash and saw Green sitting on a bike beyond her hedge.
She said: “The victim was a witness in a case against the defendant where he committed a public order offence.
“At around 2am, she was asleep in bed when she heard a loud bang and went to investigate.
“She saw the defendant outside and as he was cycling away, he was shouting – ‘you f****** grasses’.”
He cycled away, then returned shortly afterwards and threw more rocks at the woman’s Middlesbrough home, Teesside Crown Court heard.
The woman said in a victim impact statement that she struggles to sleep and fears Green has returned whenever she hears a noise outside.
Green, of Morpeth Avenue, Middlesbrough, admitted intimidating a witness and damaging property on April 7.
His lawyer, Andrew Turton, said the father-of-four had a long-standing alcohol problem and would welcome help with his addiction.
He said: “He is old enough now to realise that continuation down that path is nothing but a life of misery for him.”
Read more
North East car thief punched, headbutted and spat at two police officers
County Durham man found with knuckledusters claims he didn't know they were illegal
Arrest warrant issued for Darlington drink driver who was more than twice the limit
Judge Timothy Stead jailed Green for 18 months and imposed a five-year restraining order.
“Drunkenness appears to be the hallmark of your offending and that has been acknowledged,” he said.
“You went to her home in the middle of the night, intent on revenge for the statement being made to the police.”