Woman jailed for Norwich burglary in which she sprayed fire extinguisher in face of victim

A woman sprayed a fire extinguisher in the face of a vulnerable burglary victim so she could steal her purse containing just £2, a court heard.

Kelly Nuttall, 35, sneaked into the Webster Court sheltered home, off City Road, as the 56-year-old victim had left her door open while she was sitting up through the night watching the EU referendum results on TV in her lounge, Norwich Crown Court heard.

When the victim confronted Nuttall, she refused to leave and sprayed the fire extinguisher in the face of the victim, who suffered stinging in her eyes.

Chris Youell, prosecuting, said that when the victim told Nuttall once more to get out of her home, she had squirted the victim in the face again before taking her purse containing £2 and a bank card.

Nuttall was later arrested and in interview told police that she wanted to go back to prison so she could get off drugs.

Nuttall, who appeared via video link from Peterborough prison, admitted aggravated burglary on June 24, this year, and was jailed for five years, four months.

Jailing her, Judge Stephen Holt said that the victim had been vulnerable and said it had been a “traumatic experience” for her.

He said it was Nuttall’s fourth burglary conviction and said she also had previous convictions for violence. However, he accepted that Nuttall also had difficulties including mental health problems and said: “You were on crack cocaine at the time and told police you wanted to go back to prison to get clean again.”

Gavin Cowe, for Nuttall, said that she deserved credit for her early guilty plea and said she had a number of personal difficulties including mental health problems.

Eastern Daily Press