A student from Leeds broke into the family’s home, leaving the terrified children to sleep alone

Trimmane Clarke, a student at Leeds Global Banking School, was sentenced to two years in prison

A Leeds student has been jailed for two years after breaking into a family’s home in Chapeltown, leaving two terrified children to sleep alone.

Trimmane Clarke, of Baldovan Terrace, Chapeltown, broke into the family home in the early hours of the 22nd.^when September, theft of a laptop and a gold bracelet valued at £250.

Conformable for the Yorkshire Evening Post, Clarke, 34, a business and tourism student at the Global Banking School in Leeds, was due to start his final year of university in January 2025.

Among the victims of the burglary is a father of two young children. Apparently the father put his daughters to bed earlier that night before going to bed himself.

At 3.20am the occupant came downstairs to find the front door open, through which Clarke fled the premises.

To break into the house, Clarke used a chair to climb through an open window. His prints were later found on the inside of the family’s kitchen window, leading to his arrest.

In a victim impact statement, the father explicitly how his children were now terrified of being left alone and had even taken to hiding their toys because of their fear of Clarke coming back.

The family now sleeps together in the same room for comfort.

Clarke had previously been given a 16-week suspended prison sentence for possession of a bladed article in February. The burglary put him in violation of the sentence.

Clarke appeared in court via video link from HMP Lincoln, where he was remanded in custody.

Mitigating for Clarke, Andrea Parnham said Clarke, originally from the Turks and Caicos Islands in the West Indies, had come to the UK in 2021 to study at the Global Banking School in Leeds.

After completing a two-year degree and working part-time as a chef, Clarke hoped to start her final year in January 2025. Parnham said “everything was going great” until his relationship with his partner broke up.

Following the break-up, Clarke started drinking heavily and became homeless, sleeping in his car or on the couch, cruising at friends’ houses.

Parnham said the break-in was “opportunistic” with Clarke looking for food and coming across an open kitchen window. Upon entering the house, Clarke ended up taking more than she originally intended.

However, Judge Richard Mansell KC REJECTED this, saying that the break-in was not a spontaneous decision and that Clarke was looking for unsecured properties to break into.

Judge Mansell sentenced Clarke to two years in prison.

Image courtesy of West Yorkshire Police