South Yorkshire burglar coughed into cop's face after breaking into bakery

Amber Laing was being searched when she lunged forward as if to headbutt the officer, prosecutor Jo Lewis-Crookes told Sheffield Magistrates Court, on Wednesday.

"She said: "I have got COPD you f****** stupid b******," and then coughed again as if trying to justify her actions."

Laing and Robert Hudson were found inside Cherrycakes, on Midland Road, Royston, at 2.50am, on March 31, after a neighbour raised the alarm.

The pair had kicked a panel out of the front door and ransacked the premises, leaving "a complete mess" and blood on some items.

In a statement the officer said: "I felt filthy. I could feel her breath on my face. I don't think she cares about what she does. I wouldn't accept an apology and I only hope an example is made of her."

The court heard the bakery had been closed due to the lockdown, and would require a complete deep-clean.

In a statement the proprietor said it had been burgled twice in the four years it has been open, and the recent closure would have "a massive impact on my livelihood."

Yvonne Wragg, mitigating, said Laing had a "long-standing" Class A drug problem which she mixed with prescription drugs, and was unable to recall what happened.

She was taken to hospital after her arrest because of fears she had overdosed.

Laing, who has a five-year-old son, suffers from COPD and has a regular cough, but has had no medication for it, Ms Wragg added.

Lane shouted out from the dock: "We were starving to death."

Joanna Robinson, mitigating, said Hudson had relapsed into crack cocaine abuse and was not claiming benefits.

"The offending was committed out of desperation and hunger," she said. "Since he has been arrested he has eaten everything that was available to him."

Laing, 21, and Hudson, 40, both of East Pinfold, Royston, admitted burglary, and Laing also pleaded guilty to assault.

District Judge Naomi Redhouse told Hudson that because of his "terrible record," he would be facing three years in prison if this had been a domestic burglary.

She said: "This was a really nasty offence. There was never any food in these premises. You must know that people who run small businesses are at risk of going out of business and yet you have made their situation worse."

She handed him 26 weeks in prison and ordered him to pay £150 compensation.

The judge told Laing: "You're in a really terrible situation but you have managed to make it very much worse. You did something that deliberately set out to harm the officer.

"Everything I have heard leads me to be extremely worried about the domestic situation you have left behind. These offences are agggravated by the situation we all find ourselves in."

She sentenced Laing to 28 days in prison for each offence and ordered £150 compensation.

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