A knife-carrying burglar has been sentenced to over six years in prison after putting a woman through a ‘terrifying experience’, Cumbria Police say.

Stuart Brown who entered a woman’s home in the middle of the night whilst armed with a knife and wearing a face-covering has been jailed yesterday, May 18, for six years and nine months.

The 27-year-olf, of Eskdale Avenue, Carlisle, was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court after the court heard how his victim had woken at around 2.30am to find a man inside her bedroom at her home address on June 18, 2019.

He held up a small knife and demanded the woman’s phone before taking it and leaving the property.

The man was wearing a face covering, however, the woman was able to identify Brown from his voice and clothing.

Brown was subsequently arrested, charged and admitted offences of aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article in a public place.

He was sentenced to six years in prison for aggravated burglary and a further nine months in prison for possession of a bladed article in a public place.

Detective Constable Dawn Grant of Cumbria Constabulary said: “Waking to find a man in your house armed with a knife, with his face covered, must have been a terrifying experience.

“The police and the courts take such offending extremely seriously, particularly when there is the presence of a knife. This is reflected in the sentence handed down today at court.

“There is no excuse for anyone to be walking the streets of Cumbria in possession of a knife. Doing so puts people at significant risk of serious injury or death – including the person carrying the knife.

Cumbria Police is taking part in Operation Sceptre this week – a national campaign which takes place twice a year, supporting the work Cumbria Police carry out all year round, to ensure residents are safe from knife crime in their community.

The operation includes a knife amnesty where people can hand in dangerous bladed articles in order to make themselves and their communities a safer place.