Want the best Nottingham news by 9am every day? Sign up to our newsletter! Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A naked woman faced the horror of a burglar armed with a claw hammer at the foot of her stairs after midnight.

Her partner grabbed a lamp to protect his family, only for Christian Anscombe to smash it, Nottingham Crown Court heard.

The couple's ordeal was made worse because their son was asleep in the next bedroom when Anscombe arrived in a search of a cannabis farm.

He had got the wrong address but another man looked around the home for the drug set-up, which was said to have been capable of producing a £25,000 crop.

The episode led to a jail term of eight years and two months for Anscombe, 29, who is homeless but comes from Nottingham. He must serve a two-year driving ban when he leaves prison.

Recorder William Edis QC told him: "This was a serious pre-planned home invasion.

"The weapon was potentially dangerous. You brandished it and used it to smash the lamp.

"It was aggravated because there was a child at home and it was committed at night."

Anscombe had been sent a text message giving the address of the rented house in Deepdale Avenue, Ilkeston. He was told it would be empty - but went to the wrong home.

The recorder added: "When you realised it was an occupied property, you didn't stop, you were so determined to get to this cannabis farm and its proceeds."

Ian West, prosecuting, said the offence took place on November 18 after the residents had gone to bed. The mother heard a noise and thought it was her son.

He told the court: "She went to the top of the stairs naked and was confronted by the defendant, making his way up the stairs holding a claw hammer.

"She was, not surprisingly, absolutely terrified and ran screaming to the room where her partner was.

"He got up, picked up a lamp from the bedside table, trying to defend himself and his partner.

"Anscombe swung out with the hammer," said Mr West.

The couple were so upset they are hoping to move house. The child slept through the incident.

Anscombe admitted aggravated house burglary and driving while disqualified. The couple's car was taken.

He was at the wheel when it was stopped the next day in Sherwood Rise. The vehicle had already been fitted with false number plates.

Matthew Smith, mitigating, said that Anscombe had recently been involved in a BBC documentary "looking at the rehabilitation of young offenders" and was tackling a drugs problem.

"Chronologically he is 29 but because of a number of issues, his level of maturity is below that," said Mr Smith.

When questioned by police officers, Anscombe needed "a responsible person" with him.

Since being in custody awaiting his sentence, he has passed an exam equal to a GCSE in English. He hopes to become a mechanic.

Anscombe already had 74 offences on his criminal record. Five weeks before the latest offence, magistrates gave him an 18-week suspended prison sentence for burglary.