Teen burglar with axe jailed after breaking into wrong house

A teenage burglar armed with an axe who confronted a terrified mother and her baby after breaking into the wrong house has been jailed for four and a half years.

Ryan Lee Polverino, 18, and a knife-wielding accomplice smashed glass to gain entry to a house in Rhayader, Powys, at around 12.40am on August 2. The woman living at the property heard loud bangs and breaking glass before opening her bedroom door to find two figures in the hallway wearing snoods covering their faces.

Newport Crown Court heard Polverino was holding an axe in his right hand whilst the youth was holding a knife. The youth shouted: “Where is it, tell us where it is.”

When the woman picked up her crying son, the youth came towards her with the knife. Polverino then hit the bedroom door with the axe, shouting: “Where is it? Where is it?”

The woman recognised the defendant’s voice and told him she knew his mother. He reacted by pulling down his snood and said: “We have got the wrong f****** place, we have got the wrong person.”

Prosecutor Emily Bennett said Polverino apologised and asked her not to contact the police, saying he would pay for any damage. However, when she told him the neighbours had probably already called the police, he responded: “If you call the police, I will come back for you.”

In a victim personal statement, the woman said: “When I see groups of boys walking down stairs or in shops, I will run and hide or walk on a different pavement. Some of them are really young and are just kids, but the two who broke into my house were just kids.”

Polverino, of Trefonen Way, Llandrindod Wells, pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article. Judge Daniel Williams sentenced him to four years and six months imprisonment and made him subject to a 10-year restraining order.