A TERRIFIED mother and daughter successfully confronted a burglar when he broke into their home in the middle of the night, York Crown Court heard.

The 16-year-old girl armed herself with a pair of a scissors when she heard Aaron Simkiss, 22, in the family kitchen, and alerted her parent, who armed herself with a screwdriver, said James Howard, prosecuting.

Then the Scarborough mother and daughter confronted the Ecstasy and cannabis dealer and persuaded him to leave.

He was arrested nearby.

“Imagine the fears caused to a woman and her child when they see a dark shadow in their house in the middle of the night,” said the Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris.

“They were terrified.”

It was the fifth time Simkiss had burgled a home since he was 17.

He was on bail at the time for dealing in cannabis and amphetamine and had been committing crimes since he was 15.

Mr Howard said police had caught Simkiss five months earlier in another part of Scarborough with a bag containing a knife, 11.9g of cannabis in 17 packages and 20g of Ecstasy in packages.

He also had had two mobile phones which contained messages indicating he had been dealing in both drugs.

Simkiss, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to burglary on the day he was due to stand trial, possessing cannabis and Ecstasy both with intent to supply them, carrying a knife in public and possessing cannabis for his own use that was found on him when he was arrested for the burglary.

He was jailed for six years.

He wrote a letter to the judge saying he was remorseful and wanted to live a more responsible life.

For him, Adam Keenaghan said Simkiss had smoked cannabis since he was eight and had taken other drugs since he was 13 or 14.

He had been homeless since he was 13.

“He has almost fallen into this life of undesirable behaviour and crime,” he said.

Simkiss had sold drugs to fund his own drug habit, said the defence barrister and wanted to start a new life in Halifax or Bradford on his release.

Mr Howard said the daughter heard Simkiss moving in the family kitchen at 2.30am on May 24 last year.

She got out of bed and went to investigate.

When she saw Simkiss, she retreated to her bedroom to arm herself and alert her mother.

In personal statements, both the daughter and the mother said the experience had had long term effects on them.

Mr Howard said police pulled over a car with Simkiss and another man inside on November 21, 2019.

Both men ran off, but Simkiss was caught hidden behind a bin.