A BOLTON thug terrorised a petrified mother, vandalising her home and smashing up a car during a night-time wrecking spree.

Daniel Harmer, 31, travelled to Penrith, Cumbria, chasing a drug debt owed by Jennifer Bell’s son, Ashley, on November 12, 2018.

Carlisle Crown Court heard Mrs Bell was home alone and, after receiving a phone call from a male and a knock on the door, peered out of a front window, opening it slightly.

A brick-holding male demanded to speak with Ashley, stating: “He owes me three-and-a-half grand. Get him on the phone or I will smash up that Mercedes.”

Climbing on to the window ledge, he vowed to “come in and smash the house up”, adding: “I will come in and get you.”

“Petrified, she ran into the kitchen to hide,” said prosecutor Robert Wyn Jones. “Whilst on the phone to police she heard a loud smash at the front of the house. That was the window being smashed. Then, more smashes, as the Mercedes was being damaged.”

Parked on the drive, it belonged to Mrs Bell’s other son, Andrew, who was alerted and came home.

Ashley also returned, revealing he owed a male from Bolton - “Danny Boy” - drug money but disputed the sum. While police were present, Ashley received a phone call from Danny Boy, who threatened to return and cause further damage.

Neighbours saw the vandalism, one later identifying Harmer as the culprit. Their son, then aged nine, heard everything and had been unable to sleep with the light off since.

In her impact statement, Mrs Bell said: “I felt lots of different emotions at the time: anger and fear, but also disbelief that someone could do that to a stranger.”

Harmer, of River View Court, Bolton, admitted affray, destroying a window and Mercedes damage totalling £6,649.

A probation officer told the court: “Mr Harmer says he is very sorry for this offence. He said it was madness on his part. He is deeply ashamed by his actions.”

Harmer, who had a young son and was in a long-term relationship with a new child due in May, had “worked through an awful lot of problems in his life”.

Jane Dagnall, defending, explained: “He is now fully dealing with and meeting the issues that he has.”

Of his offending, she stated: “As a son and a father, he now fully appreciates and fully understands just how scary the incident would have been.”

Judge Nicholas Barker told Harmer: “You now fall to be sentenced for this appalling piece of behaviour, during which you terrorised Jennifer Bell, who was doing little else than enjoying the comfort of her own home.”

Concluding there was a “realistic prospect of rehabilitation”, Judge Barker suspended a 24-month prison sentence for two years. Harmer must complete 200 hours’ unpaid work, a two-month night-time curfew and pay £1,200 compensation to Andrew Bell.