A homeless man repaid a woman’s kindness by breaking into her home and threatening her with a crow bar.

Paul Leaver was jailed on Thursday (December 15) after Preston Crown Court heard he broke into Jacqueline Clarkson’s home in Clayton-le-Moors and demanded she return £20 he had given her a few weeks earlier.

The court was told how Ms Clarkson, 57, had known Leaver for around a year and a half and had shown him a great deal of kindness by allowing him to come to her property and use her shower and have a chat with her while he was homeless and living in a garage.

Stephen Parker, prosecuting said: “He had fallen on hard times and had been homeless and she was trying to help him out.

“In January this year, she hadn’t seen or heard from him for quite a while. The previous month she had borrowed £20 from him.

“Shortly after midnight on January 6, she was awoken and heard a scratching noise and went to see what it was.

“She could see the outline of a person outside and when she went to the front door, which she had locked, she noticed the lock had been broken.

“The defendant had gone into the communal entrance to the flats where she lived and had damaged the lock on the door with a crow bar.

“When Ms Clarkson went to the door she suddenly saw a crow bar being forced through. She attempted to shut the door but it was forced open and she was pushed back with the crow bar.”

The court heard that it was this point, as the defendant entered her property, that she realised it was Leaver.

Ms Clarkson was pushed back into the living room and forced onto the sofa where she was pushed down by the crow bar.

Leaver then said: “I am going to kill you in half an hour. It’s too late.”

He then demanded the £20 she had borrowed from him the month before.

Mr Parker went on: “She showed him her purse which was empty, but he continued to demand the £20 and said he would do something stupid if he didn’t get it.

“He made threats to harm her and said he would kill her.”

While standing over her, Leaver struck the wall with the crow bar, leaving a hole, before leaving after Ms Clarkson said she was going to call the police.

He was arrested a short time later, telling police: “I am mental and I have a drink problem and I have been asking for help for four years.”

In a victim impact statement, Ms Clarkson, who described herself as a person with a nervous disposition, said she had been left feeling terrified in her own home.

Once a charitable person, she said she no longer viewed life in a positive way and since the incident had lost all trust in other people.

Leaver, of Oakenhurst Road, Blackburn, has 17 convictions for 24 previous offences, and pleaded guilty to affray and criminal damage.

Defending, Clare Thomas said the 52-year-old had a drink problem and at the time was spending all of his benefit money on alcohol but had since made steps to address this and was thoroughly ashamed of his actions.

Leaver was jailed for 20 months and handed a restraining order banning him from contacting Ms Clarkson indefinitely.

Det Con Victoria Pickup of Blackburn Police, said: “This was a distressing incident for the victim in her own home. It should have been a place where she felt safe.

"We are pleased that Paul Leaver has been brought to justice and given a prison sentence.”