A MAN has been jailed after raiding a house in Warrington and leaving a family scarred for life.

Gary Peake, 46, from Birkenhead, smashed his way into a family home on Chester Road on September 26, stealing more than £7,000 of jewellery of sentimental value.

Prosecuting in Chester Crown Court on Monday, Ian Criddle said the family left their house at about 8.30am and when they returned later in the day, the door had been smashed and the garage had been broken into.

CCTV footage showed Peake at about 1pm going up the drive to the property and returning just before 2pm.

He went into the garage and used the tools he found to break into the house.

Mr Criddle read a victim personal statement from the family and explained how the female victim sees Peake every time she looks out of the window and cannot be by herself due to anxiousness and stress.

She has spent more than £100 on home security to try to comfort her children, who cannot sleep or go into any room in their home alone.

Peake has stolen every piece of sentimental jewellery her husband bought for her.

Christopher Macmaster, defending, agreed that the jewellery had not been recovered and admitted that his mitigation was limited due to Peake's record of like offending, including six years imprisonment for burglary.

Mr Macmaster said Peake did make some attempt to help the police in their investigation and has been using his time in custody well.

His twin brother died in 2017, so he is attending counselling to come to terms with his death and has also completed qualifications in maths and English.

He previously made some small steps to address his drug and alcohol issues but when this offence happened he had fallen back into old habits.

Judge Roger Dutton, sentencing, said: "In many years, seldom have I heard of an impact from a domestic burglary quite so serious as this.

"The impact of this, to get money for more drugs, has been really profound.

"The children are terrified.

"The whole experience has been quite earth-shattering for them.

"It has been harmful and I don't know if they will ever recover but I hope they do."

Peake was sentenced to five years imprisonment for pleading guilty to once count of domestic burglary.