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A man from south Leeds was caught attempting to smash into a neighbour’s house while she was away, before telling a concerned neighbour to “shush” when he asked what he was doing there.

Paul Johnson, 58, was seen by neighbours attempting to smash the front door of an elderly victim with mental health problems while she was away on holiday, a sentencing hearing at Leeds Crown Court was told.

The 67-year-old victim said in a statement that she suffered from schizophrenia and that the incident made her mental state far worse.

A sentencing hearing at Leeds Crown Court heard how Johnson was spotted at 10.30pm by neighbours using a “metal object” to break into a flat in a supported living complex near Dewsbury Road in Beeston.

Paul Johnson was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

One nearby resident said Johnson was trying to “hack his way through” the window plate of the victim’s door. The neighbour approached Johnson and asked him what he was doing. Johnson was said to reply “shush” and walked away, before returning and attempting to break in again.

When the police were called, they found him in his garden holding a hammer. He agreed to put down the hammer and was arrested.

During his police interview, Johnson was told that numerous witnesses had seen what he had done, he responded: “They have got it in for me anyway”.

Johnson pleaded guilty to attempted burglary.

A personal statement written by the victim said: “I have become more nervous and irritable since it happened.

"The police informed me there was an attempted break-in. I am now on medication for anxiety and depression.”

Mitigating for Johnson, Emily Hassell said: “There is a history of entrenched drug use. He struggled with class A drug use for many years during the 1980s and 1990s.”

She added that Johnson had relapsed on crack cocaine after the death of his father in August of this year.

Sentencing Johnson, Recorder Peter Hampton said: “I have no doubt that this was an offence committed to feed your addiction. Her psychiatrist said your actions had a profound impact on the mental state of this lady and her care plan had to be changed.

"I cannot overlook the impact and the effect your offending had on the emotional and mental state of the victim.”

He sentenced Johnson to 18 months imprisonment.

Bungling burglar tries to 'hack into' house of vulnerable woman in Beeston while urging neighbours to be quiet